In the Shadow of the Hawk
by Shadow-Hawk2
Summary: A new and powerful gundam appears to threaten the peace of the Cinq Kingdom as a new student upends the lives of the undercover pilots at their school and home. Romance 7x9, 2xOC.
1. Enter the Shadowhawk

****

A.C. 197 Cinq Kingdom Palace

As he looked out over the city, a deep contentment filled Miliardo Peacecraft, ruling prince of the Cinq Kingdom and chief of security for the newly formed World and Space Alliance. War had torn apart the world nations and the space colonies for so long, the peace that was his family's dream seemed just that: a dream. But the construction underway in the city was real, and he could see his people going about their daily lives without the threat of attack.

Yet peace had been bought and paid for with the lives of many young men and women, and Miliardo would honor their memory by maintaining it. His father had been naïve to believe that man could live with total pacifism. There had been enough war to prove him wrong, and yet Miliardo could not rule with an iron fist either. Peace had its price.

Deep in thought, he didn't hear his aide, Lieutenant Benton, enter until the young man cleared his throat.

"Your Excellency, Commander Noin is here to see you."

Without realizing what he was doing, he ran a hand through his silky, long blond hair and tugged at the sleeves of his jacket. When he saw Benton try to hide his smile, Miliardo chuckled at his own nervousness. "Send her in."

The lieutenant stepped out and a moment passed before the commander of his military, Baronet Lucrezia Noin entered. Their eyes met, but neither spoke until the door closed her.

"It has been fourteen hours and twenty-seven minutes," he said with a smile as he took a step toward her.

Noin took a step toward him, her dark violet eyes still on his. "Twenty-eight minutes," she corrected him, "and forty-three seconds."

Miliardo closed the distance between them. "Fifty seconds." He would have reached out to take her hands, but his aide poked his head back into the room.

"Your Excellency, shall I cancel your appointment with Colonel Nelson?"

Nelson was Chief of Space Operations and had flown in on the shuttle that morning. He had an urgent report that he wished to give in person, so Miliardo knew he must cut this unscheduled meeting with Noin short.

"I will be but a moment." He turned his attention back to Noin. That look she was giving him made it difficult to think. "I wasn't expecting to see you until later tonight, but this is a pleasant surprise just the same."

She looked away from his face, blushing. "I am sorry I will not be able to have dinner with you this evening."

Miliardo swallowed his disappointment and hoped his face did not betray just how upsetting her announcement made him. "I am sorry to hear that." Good, not too emotional.

Not as sorry as I, thought Lucrezia Noin, trying not to look at his blue eyes. If she did, she wouldn't be able to concentrate any more. When he had greeted her, she hoped he would touch her, then feared she would fall at his feet if he did. No man had a right to look like he did, especially not the man who was her leader, the man to whom she must report.

What was she there to report?

"An object has been tracked on space radar headed toward the earth," she told him.

"A meteor?" he suggested.

"Not at the trajectory it is travelling." She looked at his face now. "One of my men reminded me of Operation M. This object is similar. It is an unidentified craft."

"Someone needs to check it out," he stated flatly. So much for dinner, he thought. Even his sister was out of the palace, so he would be eating alone when he had had a far different scenario planned. Was it too late to cancel the roses? He would still pay the violinist.

"I knew you would understand," she said as she thought of how her new dress was quite daring, but would have to wait who knew how long to find out if it was worth the week's pay.

"Take the Epyon and one of the gundams from Seaside." He came to her and was so close he hoped she could not hear the heavy thud of his heart. 

"Please be careful, Lucrezia."

She raised her face to him. "I will, Zechs."

Miliardo stared down at her beautiful face, saw her eyelids drop as she looked at his lips, and he realized he was looking at hers. They stood like that for several moments before he let out a breath, lowered his head and…

"Colonel Nelson is here!" announced his lieutenant.

His vision was blurred, but he saw Benton cover his mouth with his hand. Miliardo blinked, saw the humor in his aide's eyes, then looked at Noin whose cheeks were bright pink. What was he thinking?

"I should be going," she said breathlessly. "I will report back as soon 

as possible."

"Make it very soon!" Did he actually say that?

She saluted him and left.

Miliardo sighed realizing he had missed his chance to kiss her and hold her in his arms because of his inaction again. "Why am I always so spineless?" 

Before he could further berate himself for the missed opportunity, Colonel Lionel Nelson strode into the room. They greeted each other with a handshake.

"Zechs, it's good to see you! Was that Noin I just passed? She is looking very good. Very good indeed!" The other man chuckled. "Do you think she'd be interested in a space dog like me?"

Over my dead body. But Miliardo smiled and slapped him on the shoulder. "That would be something to ask her." He turned to see Benton smirking. If he didn't like the young man, he would reprimand him. "Benton, get Colonel Nelson some tea with a dash of whiskey."

"So you remember," remarked Nelson with a laugh as he sat on a chair by the window overlooking the city. Benton returned with the tea and left again. "It has been a long time since our days at the academy."

"Yes," agreed Miliardo. "There have been a lot of changes."

"Your name, for one. Who would have believed that Zechs Merquise would, in reality, be Miliardo Peacecraft, crown prince of the Cinq Kingdom?  
"Who would believe there would be peace?"

Nelson sipped from the tea. "Some things have stayed the same. You are still number one, Noin your second, while I…"

"We are not in competition," Miliardo reminded Nelson. Although they had been friends at the academy, Miliardo found something almost sinister lurking in Nelson's black eyes and in the way he stroked his long black mustache as he stared at him without blinking.

"No," the other man responded after a moment of tense silence, "we are not."

"I doubt you endured the long flight to earth to reminisce."

"I wanted to report to you in person that my men have uncovered evidence that several resistance movements in the colonies have been in contact with each other and with others on earth."

Miliardo sighed. "There will always be resistance to peace." He was not foolish enough to believe otherwise. It was their job to keep resistance from becoming battle and battle from becoming war.

"One of my patrols intercepted, and was forced to fire upon, a shuttle from the outer scientific colony L10."

This news angered Miliardo. "We cannot make people understand our ideals unless we live by them!"

"We had no choice. There are rumors that the resistance have obtained a gundam mobile suit. On board that shuttle was Dr. Ivan Stryfe."

"You murdered Dr. Stryfe!?" Miliardo was shocked and outraged.

Colonel Nelson's black eyes were cool and unfeeling. "Sometimes sacrifices must be made. But in answer to your question, my patrol merely persuaded Dr. Stryfe to turn back. However, he never returned to L10 colony."

"What happened to Dr. Stryfe?"

"We are still investigating."

"Keep me informed." Miliardo turned back to his contemplation of the city, effectively dismissing his old friend, an old friend whose ideals were diametrically opposed to his own.

When Nelson had been gone several moments, Benton stepped into the room. "Do you need anything, your excellency?"

Sighing, Miliardo did not take his eyes from the city. "What is my schedule for the week? Am I free tomorrow evening?" He knew the answer before Benton consulted the schedule from the computer.

"You are to attend the opening of the Cinq Kingdom Assembly."

"The next night?"

"A meeting with the delegation from North Africa."

"Then?" Miliardo was hopeful.

"You planned to visit the newly rebuilt hospital on the east side of the city."

Miliardo had difficulty hiding his frustration. Obviously he failed when he caught Benton's knowing smile.

"You are free in exactly six days, thirteen hours, twenty one minutes and seven seconds."

Miliardo raised a brow. Was his lieutenant mocking him? But Benton was still grinning and he realized it was good-natured teasing. Miliardo managed to smile at himself. "Good! Don't schedule anything!"

"Yes, your Excellency." Benton strode to the door, but he paused and turned back. "Did you forget that Commander Noin will be leaving that morning for the Lake Victoria base to review the graduation of the Special Forces?"

Benton didn't wait to hear him swear before he slipped out and quickly shut the door. Miliardo spun to look out the window and in the twilight sky he saw a bright ascending light and recognized the form of Epyon. As it soared higher, Miliardo reached out to trace its flight on the window.

"Be careful, Lucrezia."


	2. Attack of the Shadowhawk

****

Seaside Research, Development and Experimental Station, Cinq Kingdom 

"Hand me one of those thing-a-ma-bobs." When there was no response to the command, an arm dangled from the hatch above.

The highly trained technician viewed the waving hand with contempt. He had many years of university education, more years in the most sophisticated laboratories in the world and in space. He could make calculations that would boggle any mind…

"Yo, dude, hand me that thing-a-ma-bob!"

The technician picked up the delicate instrument cursing the fates that paired him with the buffoon now giving him orders. The instrument was snatched out of his hand and the arm disappeared back in the hatch.

"That instrument is for calibrating…" His explanation was cut off by a clanking sound and he was horrified to realize it was being used as a hammer. He would have shrieked, but a firm hand on his shoulder prevented a sound. Turning, he saw Major Sally Po smiling.

"Take a break, Sam. I want to talk to Duo."

A long braid appeared before it was followed by a smudged face. Duo Maxwell was grinning. "I am almost done! By tomorrow, I will be finished upgrading the propulsion system."

"By tomorrow Sam will be pulling his hair out!" Sally could not help but laugh as Duo dropped out of his gundam mobile suit with the agility of a monkey. "Remember, Sam is here to do that work. I thought you had plans for the evening."

Duo scratched his head in thought for a moment. "Nothing important!"

She raised a brow.

Well, thought Duo, at least not important to him. Maybe to Hilde, but then she surely realizing his beloved Deathscythe was more important than…

What were they planning to do that night? He couldn't remember.

"Where is Heero?" asked Sally. "Commander Noin will be arriving in approximately fifteen minutes…"

"And twenty seconds?" finished Duo with a snicker.

Despite herself, Sally also chuckled thinking of the clumsy courtship of Prince Miliardo Peacecraft

and Commander Noin. "Find Heero and send him down. She will be arriving in Epyon and is expecting Gundam 01 to join her. They will be investigating an object approaching the atmosphere."

Duo gave her a thumbs up and walked to the elevator that would take him up to the complex where he and his fellow pilots lived. This laboratory was hidden deep in the cliffs and only a select few knew the five teenagers for whom Sally Po was guardian in the name of the Cinq Kingdom were actually the highly trained pilots of the gundams that were Prince Miliardo's insurance of peace. They lived double lives in order to protect that peace.

As the elevator opened, Duo could hear the sweet notes of a flute, and stepping out, he saw Trowa slouched in a chair, his booted feet resting on a glass tabletop as he played his flute. Quatre was not playing his violin, nor was he humming as he did yoga, nor was he sighing as he wrote poetry. Odd.

"Hey, buddy, where is Quatre?" he asked Trowa.

A response came from the other side of the room were Chang Wufei looked up from the thick book he was taking notes from. "He went out."

"Went out?" Duo laughed. "Poor Quatre. Dorothy is back from vacation?"

"We have a test tomorrow," Wufei stated, returning his attention to the book.

Duo scratched his head, frowned, then said, "Hey, what's another flag to add to the collection?"

"Your collection is getting bigger than the collection of flags around the World and Space Alliance building." Wufei hadn't bothered to look up after that remark, so Duo looked back to Trowa.

"Where is Heero?"

Trowa nodded toward the sliding doors that were open to the garden. Knowing that Heero would never sit among the flowers of Quatre's garden unless coerced and recognizing the mischievous gleam in Trowa's eye, Duo winked.

"Hey, I hear you loud and clear!" Duo bit his lip to keep from laughing as he crept to the door and the flute music covered the crunch of his footsteps on the cobbles. Finally, he spied them sitting on a bench: Heero Yuy and Relena Peacecraft.

"Heero, you are taking me to the Stardust Ball!" Relena was moving closer to Heero on the stone bench that was under a rose-covered arch.

"Do I have a choice?" Heero inched away.

Duo wished he had a hidden camera for just such an occasion.

Relena reached out to put her hand over his, but he was quicker, jerking the hand away. "You know you want to take me."

"If it is on Saturday…"

She didn't give him a chance to finish before throwing herself against him and planting her lips on his. 

They tumbled off the bench into the flowers behind and Duo could not stop his outburst of laughter.

Relena's blond head popped up first. "What do you want?" She was glaring at him.

"I was looking for Heero." Duo tried not to laugh even as Heero's dark head came up and his face was smeared with pink lipstick.

"He is busy!" announced Relena.

"I see that!" Duo saluted him. "Sorry to disturb you! I'll tell Noin you can't leave right now."

Heero would have said something, but Relena put a hand on his chest and shoved him back into the flowers. "You do that!" She lunged after Heero.

Duo would have liked to see how his friend was going to fare in that battle, but he remembered Noin would soon be arriving, so he returned to the lab, pausing only to give Trowa a high five.

When she saw him climbing up to his gundam, Sally Po tried to stop him. "Your gundam isn't ready yet! Noin is expecting Wing Zero."

"Heero is occupied right now," he called out to her before ducking into the cockpit of his gundam and pressing a few buttons and flipping switches that would awaken the deadly Deathscythe. "Don't worry about us! We are just doing a little snooping."

"Don't do anything foolish," warned Sally.

He waited only long enough for the door facing the sea to slide open before igniting the boosters and leaving the lab behind. A blip on his radar alerted him to Epyon's position and when he had the other gundam in view, he opened communications.

Noin's face appeared on his screen. "Gundam 02, what are you doing here?"

"Hey! Nice to see you too!"

Noin laughed. "Sorry, Duo. I was expecting Heero." 

"He is pretty tied down about now." He winked at Noin.

She laughed. "Let me guess. Relena Peacecraft."

"She just doesn't know when to quit!" Not that Noin didn't already know that.

"Hmmm. Another Peacecraft I know doesn't know when to start." Noin looked away to her radar, then reported, 

"Object at coordinates zero-eight-nine in the Y quadrant."

Duo saw the object appear as a flash on his own radar. Deathscythe was rapidly scanning. 

"I have visual contact," said Noin.

"It is descending at a dangerous speed." Duo had trouble keeping up with the data he was receiving.

"Going to check it out."

Duo switched his screen to view her approach. "Careful, Noin. It's picking up speed. It might be out of control." 

He watched the Epyon draw nearer a craft that appeared to have bird wings. 

"It's a mobile suit!" he warned Noin as Deathscythe analyzed its design and displayed it for him. 

"Unregistered mobile suit, identify yourself," ordered Noin.

An unearthly voice answered her. "Those who gaze upon the Shadowhawk become its prey!"

An alarm drew Duo's attention back to his data. "Noin! Get out of there! It's a gundam!"

But he could do nothing as the unidentified gundam suddenly stopped and unfolded. With fluid, lightening speed, the intruder reached behind and pulled what appeared to be a bow.

"Unidentified gundam, we mean no harm. State your purpose," came Noin's calm, authoritative voice.

"To destroy!"

Deathscythe warned of an impending energy surge, but Duo had no time to act as the enemy gundam nocked what appeared to be a pulsing arrow in its bow and sent it flying through the atmosphere toward the unprepared Epyon.

"Unidentified gundam," he heard Noin repeat, then there was nothing but static.

"Noin!" shouted Duo. "What is your status? Noin?"

There was no response but the static, and switching the view to the outside cameras, he saw the Epyon spiraling down to the earth, and there were no power readings according to his scan. But Duo had little time to worry about Noin. The Shadowhawk gundam was turning toward him, and he quickly jammed the scan that was running on them. 

The Deathscythe was able to avoid one of those deadly arrows, and he quickly turned to fire on the gundam, but his shots were deflected when it turned one of its wings into a shield.

This guy's good, thought Duo, then to his gundam he said, "Let's pluck that hawk and serve it up for supper!"

The wicked scythe activated and he raised it as he hit the boosters to charge forward, but suddenly he was losing power and he remembered too late that he hadn't finished wiring the circuit board.

The Shadowhawk had put away the bow and now swung what appeared to be a flail that radiated energy beams so powerful it made Deathscythe warning system wail. Duo unbuckled from his seat and threw himself across the cockpit. 

As he quickly worked to re-route the power supply, he heard the menacing laughter of the Shadow hawk pilot.

"Is that the best you can do? What were you planning to do with that puny hoe of yours?"

Just as Duo flipped the last switch, the flail flew out striking Deathscythe in the chest and sending it rolling back. Duo put out his arms to grasp anything, but he was knocked about until his head smashed against the control panel. 

As darkness descended upon him, he heard the sinister laughter of the Shadowhawk.


	3. A thistle in the garden

****

Peacecraft Memorial Infirmary

"Noin!" Miliardo almost stumbled across the hospital room, but he noticed Duo Maxwell sitting beside the bed, and he managed to compose himself.

The young pilot stood, and Miliardo noticed the bruise on his forehead. "Are you are right, Duo?"

Duo nodded. "I'm sorry, Zechs. I couldn't help her!"

She was so pale against the white sheets of the bed. There were wires collecting data from her temples and a monitor for her heart, but she was at least breathing without assistance.

Not caring that Duo saw, Miliardo lifted her limp hand and carried it to his lips. "Lucrezia," he murmured softly.

The doctor entered with Sally Po following. 

Miliardo did not wait for the doctor to speak before asking fearfully, "Will she be all right?"

"She is in a coma." The doctor moved past him to check her vital signs.

Sally cleared her throat. "The attack on the Epyon was designed to render both the machine and pilot unable to counterattack." In other words, to destroy the machine and kill the pilot.

"Commander Noin took quite a shock to her system," the doctor told Miliardo. "But she is young and strong. At the moment I don't see any danger, but she needs rest."

Miliardo continued to hold Noin's hand, stroking the back with his thumb as he stared at her peaceful, unconscious face. Come back to me, he urged silently.

Sally was speaking again. "We do have a problem, sir."

Reluctantly he took his gaze from Noin's face to see that Sally was very serious.

Duo announced, "We fought a gundam."

Miliardo fixed his stare on him. "According to Noin's pre-operation report, she was planning to take Wing Zero with her. What are you doing here?"

The long braid fell forward as Duo hung his head.

Sally spoke. "According to the preliminary data, this unidentified gundam probably would have killed a pilot using the Zero System. As it is gundam 02 needs extensive repairs and Epyon is all but destroyed. It will take months to repair."

Miliardo didn't care about the gundam mobile suit. He squeezed Noin's hand. "Bring me your report in the morning. It is late." He glanced at Duo. "I believe you have an advanced physics test tomorrow. That is the reason my sister gave for going to Seaside Lab, to study with Heero Yuy. Could that explain his absence on the mission?"

By the look that Sally and Duo exchanged, Miliardo concluded he had guessed correctly. He would have to deal with his single-minded sister later. For now he only wanted to be with Noin for as long as he could before duty called him away.

As Duo followed Sally out, Miliardo heard him say, "You'd think falling out of the sky at hundreds of feet per second and smacking into the ground on your head might get you out of a physics test."

"There's nothing to damage in your head," responded Sally.

Miliardo did not hear Duo's reply. He let out a breath and leaned down to touch his lips to Noin's forehead, but he saw her long, dark lashes flutter open and her deep violet eyes met his. He froze.

She groaned.

"Are you in pain?" he asked, reaching to press a button to call the doctor back to the room.

Her hand snagged his arm, stopping him. "No, I am fine. I just feel sore all over."

"You took a foolish chance," he admonished her softly.

"Why don't you take a foolish chance?" she goaded as she reached up to run her fingers through his hair.

Miliardo could not resist her invitation. He leaned forward to kiss her, but the door swung open, and he sprang back to see Lieutenant Benton enter carrying a large bouquet of red roses. Several nurses followed carrying similar bouquets and they cast envious glances at the woman on the bed. Miliardo realized he had forgotten to cancel the flowers.

Before leaving, Benton winked at him. Or was he winking at Noin?

Noin sighed. "Does a girl have to die to get a kiss from you?"

"Almost," he replied, and pushing back all the reasons why he shouldn't, he touched his lips to hers.

****

Seaside Laboratory/Royal Academy

"Duo! Get up!"

Duo pulled a blanket over his head. Maybe he wouldn't be seen.

"Duo!"

"Go away," he groaned.

Something was poking his back, and he threw back the blanket. Sally Po dropped his clothing on his head.

"The others have already left for the academy. I must go too, and you are coming with me. You will miss assembly, but I expect you to attend classes as usual."

"As usual? Does that mean I can skip literature class?" She raised a brow. "Guess not!"

Sally was already gone, but a driver dropped him at the Royal Academy. Duo's head was still pounding, and he could only think about his humiliating defeat the previous night. To be beaten in combat was one thing, but to be laughed out of the sky was quite another. Sally had been saying something about a houseguest, but Duo couldn't concentrate. The Shadowhawk's laughter was still ringing in his ears.

Assembly would end in a couple of minutes, so Duo went straight to his locker in the hall where he pulled out his physics book. He tried to balance it on his knee while scribbling answers between his fingers. The teacher would never see them there!

"Duo!"

Hilde's voice startled him into dropping the book. "Hey! I only have five minutes before class! Cut me some slack!"

"We had plans last night! It was my birthday!" She was glaring at him.

"Really? Happy birthday!" Duo didn't need Hilde nagging him now. If his hair didn't hide the bruise on his head, she might feel sorry for him. But Duo certainly didn't want her hanging all over him like Prince Miliardo was over Noin.

Hilde smacked his arm. "We were supposed to celebrate together last night. Remember?" She poked his head with her forefinger and he almost yelped in pain.

"I had more important things to do!" It slipped out before he could stop himself. Oh God, now he would have to deal with hurricane Hilde!

"Well! With that attitude, you probably don't care that I stopped by for you and when you were too busy, Quatre took me to see a movie."

Saved by good old Quatre! "Whatever makes you happy!" Duo scribbled another answer on his finger.

"Afterward, we went out for ice cream."

With his foot he flipped a page of his physics book and found another term to add to his notes. "Glad you had fun!"

"Then we went for a walk on the beach and saw some shooting stars."

One was me, he thought.

Suddenly she was nose to nose with him. "We held hands, Quatre and I, then he kissed me."

With Dorothy out of town, he could afford to be so brave. "So what's your point?"

Hilde stomped her foot on his. "We are through!"

Duo raised his injured foot and hopped a bit just as the bell rang to signal a return to classes. He put his foot down, not noticing until it was too late that it came down on a shoelace. The owner tumbled to the floor, books flying in many directions.

Looking down, he saw a girl he had never met staring up at him. Her hazel eyes seemed like green fire as she glared at him over the rims of gold wire glasses that were crooked on her nose. Her curly hair was the color of bright copper and several strands had fallen out of the knot that was twisted at that back of her neck. There were freckles sprinkled across her nose.

"It's not everyday a girl falls at my feet," he joked, reaching down to help her up.

"I wouldn't think so!" She brushed off his offer of help to collect her books quickly herself, and then she stood. 

Duo whistled softly. "My, but aren't you a prickly thistle!"

"Are there any other kind?" she retorted. And without another word she marched away.

Duo almost called out to her to warn her that her shoes were untied, but he changed his mind. He was in no shape to combat the insults she seemed capable of hurling, and there was only a matter of minutes before physics class.

The bell rang again.

"You're late," commented Wufei as Duo slipped into the seat across the aisle from him.

"I'm not late unless the teacher notices," whispered Duo. "And old featherbrain hasn't noticed."

"Duo Maxwell!" The physics teacher, Dr. Elias Plume, bellowed. "Perhaps you have a good reason for being late today."

"Not today!" responded Duo.

Trowa and Heero were several seats away towards the back of the room, but Duo did hear them snicker.

"Good, because we don't have time to listen to one of your entertaining tales. Today we have a test on the information in Chapter Twelve. Everyone close your books."

Duo sneaked a peek in his book and realized he had written answers to another chapter. He looked at Wufei. "What happened to Chapter Ten?"

"Three weeks ago," said Wufei.

"Do I hear talking?" demanded Dr. Plume. "Mr. Maxwell, need I repeat myself? Close your book!"

With a sigh, Duo did as ordered and wondered what they would be writing about today. Maybe old featherbrain would give a true-false test and he would have a chance! Then he remembered the last true-false test Plume gave. Sally Po was not impressed by three out of one hundred correct.

The test paper appeared on his desk. _Explain the theory of relativity and its role in quantum physics and how it has been applied in the propulsion designs of space transportation today. Confine your answer to no less than 2,000 words and no more than 5,000._

"Oh my God! I am so screwed!"

"Mr. Maxwell, is there a problem?"

Duo looked up to see other students busy writing. He looked at the teacher. "No sir!"

"Good, then I suggest you write." The teacher turned his attention to another student, and Duo recognized the girl from the hall. "Miss Stryfe, are you sure you wish to take this test as this is only your first day in this school?"

"I shall endeavor to keep my answer to less than 5,000 words," she replied in the same acid tone she had used with Duo in the hall.

"Friendly girl," murmured Duo.

"Get used to it," whispered Wufei who did not even pause in writing.

Duo had no idea what he meant, so he turned his attention back to the test. He wondered if his name and the date would count in the final tally towards the minimum 2,000 words. He glanced back at Trowa and saw him chewing on the eraser at the end of his pencil. Good! He was having problems too! But then Trowa started writing after spitting the eraser out the corner of his mouth, hitting Heero in the eye.

Duo snorted with laughter.

"Mr. Maxwell!" Dr. Plume raised his voice now. "You have a test to take. I suggest you begin _now_ so you can get at least your customary one hundred words scratched on the paper before the end of the period."

"Yes sir." Duo stared at his paper for several minutes, the white page mocking him. He would regret it, but he glanced back at Heero in time to see him press down his pencil so hard the lead broke and flew straight at Trowa who was busy writing. Destination, his nose.

Trowa sneezed so loudly only Duo heard Heero mutter, "Mission complete."

Duo bit the knuckles on one hand to keep from laughing and caught a warning look from Wufei. He glanced at Quatre who was sitting two seats away and saw that he was busy writing his test in poetry form complete with pencil drawn flowers and vines along the edge of his paper. Duo wondered what featherhead would think of that?

Time was slipping away, so Duo ordered himself not to look back at his fellow pilots. Instead, he caught a few ideas from Wufei's paper. But as he was writing, Miss Stryfe who marched to the teacher's desk and dropped her stack of papers in the middle under Dr. Plume's nose distracted him.

"I am sorry, sir, but I have gone over your limit by five words. Feel free to subtract them from my grade."

All pencils stopped scratching for a moment as she walked back to her seat. Duo noticed her shoes were still untied. One of her stockings was falling down and her glasses had slipped to the end of her small nose. What a sight! How was he supposed to work with _that_ in the room?

Wufei left his seat and handed his paper to Dr. Plume who was staring at Miss Stryfe's paper with puzzlement. "I have stayed _within_ your limit."

Duo sighed, then shoved himself from his seat and walked up to the teacher, passing Wufei who frowned at him. Duo slipped his paper on the desk. "I have reached my limit!" he declared.

Dr. Plume curled his lip as he looked at him. "I am not surprised you would hand in your paper after Mr. Wufei as you have been copying his."

"I didn't copy it all!" Duo defended himself. "I couldn't write that fast!"

He heard a giggle and could have sworn it came from the general direction of Miss Stryfe's seat, but when he looked over his shoulder; she had a serious, disapproving look on her severe features.

"I shall have to have yet another talk with Miss Po," Featherbrain was saying, his tone stern. "You are a disgrace! I don't know why she wastes her time and ours attempting to educate a buffoon like you! You will never amount to anything more than a taxicab driver, and I seriously doubt you even have the intelligence to operate a motor vehicle!"

"Would I have to steer and accelerate at the same time?" asked Duo, scratching his head.

"Take your seat and keep your mouth shut!" Plume was ready to burst a vein, so Duo complied.

As he sat down, he saw Quatre wink at him. Wufei wrote something on a paper and slid it toward Duo.

__

After last night's performance, **I **wouldn't ride in **your** taxi.

His head was pounding again, so Duo laid his head on his desk and before he knew it, he was sound asleep.

Trynity Stryfe sat with her back straight staring ahead to the chalkboard where the teacher had written the answer to an equation for a previous class. She doubted he realized there were several mistakes. Perhaps that pretentious oaf Mr. Wufei might notice. Trynity's father would laugh at the teacher. That was his annoying solution to everything! If it weren't for Trynity, nothing would have gotten done in his lab. Dr. Ivan Stryfe was more like that fool Duo Maxwell. Her father had been a brilliant scientist but his foolishness had landed him in a position on the furthest colony from civilization. Yet, through the years he kept in close contact with his colleagues, and he had somehow earned the honor of designing a gundam mobile suit. Trynity had been at his heels the entire time, at first pestering him with questions, then offering advice. No one was more surprised than she was when her father had decided to abort his mission because of ideological differences between him and the man who had made what had become his life's work possible. Gundam 06 did not join the others in operation Meteor in the year A.C. 195 because it was destroyed in an explosion in Dr. Strye's remote laboratory. All but Ivan Stryfe and his daughter had forgotten Gundam 06 as Operation Meteor proceeded on schedule.

But when her father had learned that the other gundams designed by his former colleagues had managed to bring the long hoped for peace between the colonies and Earth, he decided the time was ripe for unveiling his ultimate creation. Despite her warning, he took a shuttle with the intention of joining his fellow gundam designers to share with them the advanced processes he had used in designing a perfect gundam. He never reached Earth. His shuttle had been attacked and diverted to a secret location where he was held prisoner. One day while running diagnostics tests on the Shadowhawk, its sensors flashed a warning of approaching ships. Trynity didn't think twice about taking the gundam into action. No one would take it from colony L10! Shadowhawk easily destroyed the shuttle and carrier sent to take it away.

However, later as she was congratulating herself, Trynity received a sub-space communication from a group calling itself the Coalition for Earth and Colony Independence. The leader demanded that she surrender the gundam or her father would be killed. She had no choice. She had no one but her father. To the rebels' dismay, however, the gundam was so complex that only one person could pilot it. Now Trynity was forced to carry out the missions of the Coalition or her father would suffer.

Sighing, Trynity glanced back at Duo Maxwell and saw him sleeping. If only her father had used more sense, she wouldn't find herself here on earth. Before he had left on his failed mission, he informed her that he had made provisions for her to be cared for by the pacifistic Peacecraft family ruling the Cinq Kingdom on Earth should anything happen to him. Trynity had no intention of going, but her blasted father had built a beacon into Shadowhawk that was set off by the capture of his shuttle. That beacon sent a message to the Cinq Kingdom, and Trynity had no choice but to follow her father's wishes. She had been assigned to Seaside Laboratory where she was to become one of a set of orphans who were wards of Prince Miliardo Peacecraft.

She did not land on Earth by shuttle, as they believed. Shadowhawk had brought her, and when she neared the moon she received a communication from the Coalition which contained orders to destroy gundam mobile suit Epyon and its pilot as well as Wing Gundam Zero. As Trynity entered the atmosphere, she had been approached by the gundam matching the specifications sent to her by the Coalition of the Epyon. But the other gundam was not Wing Gundam Zero, so she was somewhat relieved to not have to destroy it as she did the unprepared Epyon. There was no room in her heart for remorse although the pilot of the Epyon was surely killed. Her father's life depended on her.

The unknown gundam had attempted to attack, and Trynity counted herself lucky that it had malfunctioned because Shadowhawk's scan had been scrambled by it. She even felt some fear as it spread its frightful black wings and charged with a deadly scythe, and when it had failed, she could not help her laughter of relief. So after incapacitating the unknown gundam, Trynity engaged the cloaking device on the Shadowhawk that was her father's special design feature and landed it among the treacherous rocky shoreline not far from the Seaside Laboratory which was her destination. Using the communicator in her gundam, she called a taxicab, then left Shadowhawk resting unseen in the rocks as she stepped out to wait on the side of the road. The taxi driver did not question why she stood in the road in the middle of no where with a suitcase, nor why she asked him to drive her only a few kilometers. He took the money she paid with a foolish grin. No doubt he had as much air between his ears as Duo Maxwell.

Major Sally Po who Trynity realized was a housemother of sorts had greeted her. Because it had been late, she was escorted to a room on the fourth level of the complex, and after exchanging pleasantries during which she seemed preoccupied, Miss Sally excused herself. Trynity was glad because she wanted to be alone with her thoughts, and trying to converse with the kind woman was nerve-wracking. Trynity had difficulty sleeping in her new surroundings, but she did manage to drift off to sleep shortly before dawn while still worrying about Shadowhawk being discovered.

That morning Miss Sally tried to talk her out of attending school, but Trynity wanted something challenging to take her mind off the battle of the previous evening. Leaving her room and finding the dining room, Trynity had the dubious honor of meeting the other residents at the Seaside Laboratory. Each had been orphaned during the war, and Sally explained that the prince was caring for them to symbolize his desire to help all those who had been left with nothing from the wars. 

They were seated in the dining room before their breakfast speaking quietly, but when Trynity walked into the room, they stopped immediately.

Trynity had enough experience with boys like them. Two test pilots had come to L10 and trained to pilot the Shadowhawk. They had been conceited oafs and she saw the same in these boys. 

The first to speak was the only blond among them. His big, limpid blue eyes were friendly as he reached out to take her hands. She forced herself to suffer his limp grasp and sloppy kisses to her cheeks without the scathing comment she wanted to make.

"I am Quatre Raberba Winner. I am so very pleased to meet you."

She mumbled some reply and jerked her hands away from him.

Miss Sally put one hand on another boy's shoulder. He glanced at her with the one eye she could see. The other was covered by the greater part of his brown hair hanging over it. Trynity wondered if that hair was hiding an empty eye socket.

"Trowa Barton here, just for the record." He turned his attention back to the poptart on his plate, but he did no more than stare at it.

Another silent boy sat beside him stubbornly contemplating his toast and jelly, and Trynity wondered what they found so interesting about their carbohydrates. When Sally touched his arm, he glared at her through his own too long spiked bangs and Trynity suspected from that look that he would end up in some penitentiary.

"I am Heero Yuy. It's a pleasure." He spoke as if it were anything but. Trynity tried to stare him down, but Miss Sally interrupted their duel of wills.

"This is Chang Wufei busy studying."

Trynity looked at him. "What are you studying?" she asked when he did not look up from his book.

"Advanced quantum physics," he said, turning a page. "_You_ wouldn't under-stand."

Several words came to mind for a response, but Trynity did not think saying them aloud would make a good impression on the gracious and polite Major Sally Po. So Trynity remained silent.

In fact, not one of them spoke again as they munched on their breakfast. Even the friendly Quatre seemed distracted, so Trynity contented herself with staring from boy to boy, ending with the egotistical Wufei. He caught her and shot her a look of disgust.

The limousine ride to the academy was equally uncomfortable, but she made a notable discovery: Trowa Barton did have two eyes. Once at the academy, they parted ways and Sally Po took her to the headmaster's office to register. Trynity had taken courses through satellite schools, but most of her education came from her eccentric father. She chose her own classes, and then Sally Po changed her schedule after informing her that the prince expected his wards to have a well-rounded education. So trigonometry was replaced with philosophy, technical design with art and chemistry with physical education. She fought literature, finding it a deadly waste of time, but Sally insisted.

Before leaving, Sally assured her that if she needed any help, Quatre, Heero, Trowa or Wufei would be glad to assist. Trynity truly doubted it and decided she would rather be back in deep space at the remotest colony than to have to suffer their presence more than necessary.

Physics class finally came to an end. Trynity noticed Wufei bump Duo Maxwell as he walked out, waking the oaf. Duo sat up blinking and she noticed a bruise on his forehead. She wondered if the blow that caused it had damaged his brain, what little was in evidence.

Quatre came to her as she was exiting the room, and she forced herself to look away from Duo Maxwell. "What class do you have next?" asked Quatre with a friendly smile.

Although she wished he would disappear into another dimension, she opened her schedule, and seeing her class list, he chuckled. "Just as I thought! Sally has put you in the same classes we all are in. She just doesn't want to deal with more than a handful of teachers."

That remark was telling!

Suddenly she remembered Dr. Plume's comment to Duo Maxwell about contacting Sally Po, and turning she saw him approaching. Oh no! He could not possibly live in their house! Not him!

"Hey, Quatre!" he said as he slapped him on the back, propelling the lighter Quatre forward to bump into Trynity. She had trouble keeping her books in her arms. "Seems congrats are in order! Hilde gave me the good news. She's all yours buddy!"

Trynity saw Quatre blush. He really was a nauseating young man. The three entered the main hall to blend in with the many other students. Trynity noticed three girls approaching from coordinates further down the hall, two stopping by Trowa and Heero who had positioned themselves in the shadow of a door. At least their personalities blended in with the wall.

A girl with long blondish brown hair stretched to kiss Heero, but he jerked up his head so that she planted her lips on his chin. Trowa was not so lucky as a girl with wavy darker hair trapped him against the wall. Quatre called to the girls and saved him from the embarrassing length of her kiss.

"Catherine and Relena, come and meet Trynity. She will be living with us."

They quickly left their victims - Trynity could think of no other word for them - behind as they came to check her out. Another girl with short dark hair joined them and the three looked her over carefully from top to bottom, their eyes coolly assessing her, and apparently judging her unequal and no threat to their ambiguous relationships, they smiled warmly in welcome.

Heero's attacker spoke first. "I am Relena Peacecraft." She held out her hand.

Trynity took it reluctantly. "Are you related to Prince Miliardo Peacecraft?" For the sake of the Cinq Kingdom, Trynity hoped not.

"My brother," answered Relena before turning to catch Heero Yuy attempting a daring escape. "Heero! You _are_ walking me to literature class!"

Trowa made a sound that resembled a whip, but it was cut short by the jab of an elbow in his ribs from his pretty admirer.

"My name is Catherine Bloom," she announced herself to Trynity as she curled her arm around Trowa's, dumping her books in his hands in the process. "We will be seeing a lot of each other if you are living at Seaside. Right Trowa?"

Reluctantly he nodded.

Heero snorted.

Relena started toward him, but a bell rang and Heero turned on his heel and started away, disappearing quickly among the many students headed toward their classes. 

"Heero!" called Relena as she followed him. "Come get me Heero!"

As Trowa was dragged away by Catherine, another girl snagged Quatre. Quatre turned to Wufei.

"Show Trynity to Lit class."

Wufei glared at Trynity. "I don't walk women to class." And he left her.

To her dismay, Duo Maxwell came to her side. "I think I know where Lit class is. Confidentially, I haven't been there in a week."

Trynity looked away from his silly grinning face, not because his big dark blue eyes were fascinating or his smile infectious. He was simply annoying! She started forward and almost tumbled because he was standing on her shoelace.

Duo reached out to steady her, but she slapped his hands away while attempting to keep her books in her arms. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

He threw up his hands. "Just trying to help!" Duo's nap had cleared his head. Unfortunately Miss Trynity Stryfe's disposition seemed to have gotten meaner.

"You can help," she stated, glaring at him over the rims of her glasses, "by removing your foot."

Duo saw that he was standing on her shoelace. "Oops!" When he lifted his foot, she shot away. Oh well, if she wanted to run around with her shoes untied, who was he to complain? But as he followed the untidy girl down the crowded hall, he wondered why no one else stepped on her shoelaces.

She entered the classroom before him, then slammed the door in his face. The bell had rung before he got it open.

"Damn! Late again!" he muttered as he walked in.

"Well, well, well! Class, we have a visitor today. Please welcome Mr. Duo Maxwell." The teacher was staring straight at him.

Duo acknowledged the applause of his classmates with a bow then took one of the only two seats remaining. By the look on Mrs. Drivel's face he knew he had sat at the wrong one, so he scooted across the aisle and folded his hands on his desk.

The teacher turned her attention to the carrot top girl standing inside the classroom to the back. "You must be Miss Trynity Stryfe," said Mrs. Drivel. "Please take the seat near Mr. Maxwell."

Duo watched Trynity drop her books on the desk and sit on the chair with an audible plop. He grinned at her, but she stared straight ahead. So much for Lit class! She wasn't about to make it any more interesting.

"Today we are beginning a unit on poetry," announced Mrs. Drivel.

"How exciting!" cried Quatre, half standing. "I love poetry!"

"Mr. Winner, please contain your enthusiasm," scolded the teacher. "We are well aware of your predilection for poetry."

Duo opened his book to the glossary hoping to find that word. 

"Preference," whispered Miss Stryfe to his right.

Duo looked at her with surprise, but she was staring straight ahead. Damn, she was good!

"There is a short introduction on page one hundred thirty-three. Please read it silently while I take attendance."

Quatre's hand shot into the air. "Mrs. Drivel, may I please read it aloud."

"No, you may not!"

Duo opened his book and found himself staring at word problems. Wrong book! He dared not ask for permission to return to his locker. Both he and Mrs. Drivel knew the odds were against him returning. So he rested his chin in his hand and glanced at Trynity's shoes. Both were untied and he wondered how she kept them on when she walked. As he watched, she kicked off one of her shoes and wiggled her toes. He almost laughed.

Trynity caught him looking and quickly put her foot back in her shoe. Info to be filed for future use, thought Duo. But before he could consider just how, the teacher called his name.

"Duo Maxwell, since you have graced us with your presence today, I would like for you to read the first verse on page one hundred thirty-three."

Duo flipped to that page. "Okay, Mrs. Drivel, but you aren't going to like it!"

"Begin!" she ordered.

He took a deep breath.

"Mrs. Drivel!" exclaimed Quatre. "May I please read?"

Duo looked hopefully at the teacher.

"No! There will be plenty of time during this unit for you to render us speechless with your recitation." 

She turned her cold stare on Duo. "Mr. Maxwell?"

The words jumped out from the page, so Duo read loudly and with as much feeling as he could muster_. _

"A supersonic transport leaves New York City at twelve o'clock and arrives at Oldtown one thousand five hundred miles north in exactly five hours and twenty-three minutes fourteen seconds. What was its rate of speak in kilometers per second if it makes one fourteen minute and three second stop in Clarksville and another twenty-one minutes seventeen second unscheduled stop in Harrisburg. Calcuate considering a wind velocity of sixteen miles per hour blowing southwest."

When he finished, there was only a second of silence before he heard from his right, "Four hundred twenty-six kilometers per hour."

Duo looked at Trynity.

She almost smiled.

"That was very moving," remarked the teacher. "Mr. Maxwell, I will see you after class. Miss Stryfe, you may join our little tete-a-tete."

Wufei raised his hand, then did not wait for the teacher to acknowledge him. "The answer is four hundred twenty eight kilometers per hour, not twenty-six as previously stated."

Trynity slammed her book shut, startling Duo. "Double check your figures!"

"Double check yours!" challenged Wufei.

They stared at each other for a moment, and then Wufei looked at his paper as Trynity did not take her gaze from him.

"This is not mathematics class!" the teacher reminded them.

Duo looked from Trynity to Wufei.

Finally, Wufei crumpled his paper, launched it at the trash basket, slammed his book shut and walked out of the room.

"Not too shabby," muttered Trowa from the back.

"Miss Stryfe one, Wufei nothing," commented Heero.

The teacher look at the door, then turned her attention back to the class. Before she could even take a breath to speak, Quatre stood holding his book before him. As he read the verse, the teacher sighed with defeat. Duo noticed Hilde watching Quatre with dreamy eyes, Relena busy writing Heero a note and Catherine tracing on Trowa's back with her finger. Against his will, Duo looked at Trynity Stryfe.

She frowned at him.

She likes me, thought Duo


	4. Shadowhawk's prey

****

Seaside Laboratory

One agonizing week had passed since Trynity's arrival. After that first day, she managed to control her temper although she found it very difficult living under the same roof as Quatre Winner, Trowa Barton, Heero Yuy and especially Chang Wufei and Duo Maxwell. While Wufei treated her with blatant disrespect, Duo took every opportunity to tease and annoy her until she escaped to her room, very often fuming with anger.

This night Sally Po warned her to dress well for dinner because Prince Miliardo Peacecraft would be their guest at a formal dinner after he visited the laboratory. Trynity had seen the facility and met the scientists, but saw nothing spectacular in the experiments they ran. As far as she was concerned it was a waste of Cinq Kingdom resources.

Sally had left a white suit for her to wear, and Trynity viewed it with distaste, hating the elegantly designed outfit. But she was expected to wear it, so she put it on, tied back her hair as best she could, then jerked her glasses on the end of her nose. Leaving her room, she bumped into Duo in the hall. 

He looked down at her feet. "No strings at least!"

Trynity grudgingly admitted to herself that he looked quite good in the white breeches and formal dark green jacket. Although their attire was similar, she was quite sure he looked much better. He offered his arm, but Trinity moved past him. They entered the salon together despite her effort to stay ahead. By the time they arrived, she was almost running and breathless. Duo was huffing behind her and skidded to a stop, almost knocking them over. Sally Po looked at them with disapproval, and Trynity crushed the urge to kick the long-braided oaf for making her look bad. Ever since that first day when Wufei reported Mrs. Drivel's disciplinary action, Miss Sally seemed disappointed in her. Trynity disliked being grouped with Duo Maxwell. Sally said nothing now, but her eyes begged them to behave.

The prince had not yet arrived, so Sally crowded them together for a photographer sent by the prince to capture his wards at their best. The whole episode was a fiasco from start to finish. Sally pushed flowers in Trynity's hands, and not to be outdone, Quatre ran into the garden to find some for himself. Several times the picture was shot, and more than once Duo Maxwell was at fault for some ridiculous thing he was doing behind her back. Trynity sat stiffly in a chair. Quatre posed himself. Heero scowled. The photographer complained that the lenses of Trynity's glasses were causing a glare. She considered fighting to keep them, but relented when Sally frowned. All in all, Trynity could not imagine anyone being proud of the group captured on film. She hoped Prince Miliardo wasn't going to use the picture to elicit funds for his laboratory of orphans. 

Hilde and Catherine arrived wearing gowns that made Trynity feel like a fool until Relena Peacecraft arrived also wearing a suit that was similar to Trynity's. Soon the young men segregated themselves on one side of the room and the girls were on another enjoying a glass of punch. Sally gave Trynity an encouraging smile. Although she wanted to see what Duo was talking about that caused such grave interest among the boys; she forced her feet forward to join the girls.

"You look nice," commented Relena politely. She clearly thought otherwise.

Catherine smiled. "Next time I shall come early and I will figure out something to do with your hair!"

"Isn't Quatre adorable!" sighed Hilde, breathing in from the bouquet of roses he had gone to so much trouble to get for the picture. She turned her aqua eyes on Trynity. "Are you and Duo…?"

"Certainly not!" Trynity could not stand to hear their names in the same sentence.

"What's the matter, Hilde?" teased Catherine. "Don't want to burn your bridges in case you lose Quatre when Dorothy returns from vacation?"

Relena and Catherine giggled. Trynity glanced toward the boys and saw Duo talking to a rapt audience. For once he was serious.

"Quatre is breaking up with Dorothy when she returns," sniffed Hilde.

My lord! Don't those girls think or talk about anything else? 

"Dorothy might have something to say about that!" Relena and Catherine laughed.

Disgusted, Trynity started towards the boys, but before she could get close enough to hear their discussion, they stopped completely and suddenly became intensely interested in their fingernails. Wufei glared at her.

Before she could make a scathing remark, the butler announced the arrival of their guest of honor.

"His Excellency, Prince Miliardo Peacecraft and Commander Lucrezia Noin."

Lucrezia Noin.

_"Noin!"_ came a voice from Trynity's memory_. "What is your status, Noin?"_

Status? Alive!

Trynity was horrified to find herself face to face with her failed mission. She wore the uniform of a commander, a ceremonial sword at her side. There was barely a scratch on the beautiful Commander Noin. As Miss Sally introduced her, Trynity could only think of her father's danger because of her failure. Trynity managed to mumble some response to the military leader's greeting, then dropped into a curtsey to Prince Miliardo Peacecraft. Trynity didn't expect to find intelligence in the dark blue eyes of Relena's too handsome brother, but Miliardo Peacecraft scrutinized her carefully before brushing his lips to the back of her hand.

"I am pleased to meet you, Miss Stryfe. Relena has told us much about you, and your esteemed father's reputation has proceeded you."

Her esteemed father? Dr. Ivan Stryfe had been a failure in their eyes. But she said, "I am honored, your Excellency."

"You are looking better, Noin," said Sally as she handed her a glass of wine. "Suffering no ill effects of your recent ordeal?"

Noin laughed softly and reached out to run her hand down the prince's arm, ending by clasping his hand, and she gazed into his eyes. "I am better by the experience."

Trynity bit her lip to leash her anger and frustration. That her quarry could stand so healthy and make cow's eyes at Miliardo Peacecraft when her father might be tortured because of her failure was galling.

Dinner was a quiet affair where polite conversation was the rule. The topics of discussion ranged from the weather to the formal dance at the academy in a few weeks. Relena and Quatre dominated that conversation with comments from Catherine from time to time. Trynity was annoyed to see the prince frequently find an excuse to touch the commander of his forces. 

She should not even be at this table!

Noin should be dead!

They returned to the salon after finishing the meal where they were served an after dinner drink. Duo tried to commandeer the prince's stronger drink, then settled for weak wine. The prince merely smiled at his foolishness. In the salon, Heero quickly began the conversation; obviously uncomfortable with continuing the high level planning session carried out by the three that had begun with general Relena in command.

"I read something interesting about Dr. Stryfe in a scientific journal. Did you know, Noin, that he was given the responsibility of designing and building a gundam for Operation M?"

Trynity stared down at her drink as she waited for Noin's response.

"I am aware of that. It was designated Gundam 06, but Stryfe's project was destroyed by an explosion in his laboratory on L10."

"Hey, Trynity," asked Duo curiously, "do you remember the explosion? Were you there?"

"I was away at school," she lied although in reality she had helped her father set the charges.

"Dr. Stryfe did not continue his work," remarked Miliardo Peacecraft.

"Too bad," commented Wufei with his dark eyes on Trynity. "If he had it would explain much."

"Such as?" Trynity disliked Wufei intensely and could not hide it.

His eyes told her the feeling was mutual. Wufei started to speak, but the prince interrupted with a laugh. "I sense a little dissension here. Is there a rivalry, perhaps?"

"Trinity was at the top of her class on the satellite school network," said Miss Sally.

The prince fixed his gaze on Wufei. "I hope you are making her welcome. Her father was very respected in the scientific community."

"…whose gundam was a failure," pointed out Wufei.

"What would you know of gundams?" she demanded.

"What would you, a girl-woman, know?"

"Touché," whistled Trowa softly.

"Miss Stryfe One, Wufei one," responded Heero. The two chuckled.

Sally Po frowned before Trynity could unleash her anger. "Quatre tells me one of his rare exotic flowers has bloomed today. Girls, why don't you join me for some air in the garden."

Trynity had no choice but to follow. Maybe she could make an escape.

After the girls had been gone for several minutes, Noin spoke. "There are no intelligence reports on the unidentified gundam."

"It is called the Shadowhawk," reported Duo. "I studied the data from Deathscythe's memory."

"The memory was not damaged?" asked Miliardo with surprise. "Epyon was wiped clear."

"We didn't take a hit from one of those arrows!" exclaimed Duo with nervous laugh. "This morning before school Sam and I salvaged the memory of at least that attack."

"The design of that gundam is quite amazing," commented Heero. "Its dive seems to defy the laws of physics. The agility and speed with which it attacked is far superior to any that we have on our gundams."

"Like a soaring hawk," volunteered Quatre. Duo wondered if he was going to add it to his poetry.

"Man has never quite been able to duplicate the movements of a bird in flight," remarked Trowa.

"Obviously someone has," pointed out Wufei. "My money is on the recently departed Dr. Ivan Stryfe."

"Miss Stryfe may know more than we think," commented Miliardo as he contemplated the golden liquid in his glass.

"She doesn't know anything," hissed Wufei.

"Perhaps you can but away your jealousy for a moment," snapped Noin with annoyance. "Try to think objectively where your rival is concerned or you may underestimate him - or her."

"She is very intelligent," said Trowa.

"It takes more than intelligence to pilot a gundam," argued Wufei.

"You aren't suggesting her?" asked Duo with a laugh. That carrot headed snob was constantly falling on the floor because of her ridiculous habit of leaving her shoes untied.

Noin shook her head. "Of course not! You and I both heard the voice of that pilot. I will never forget it."

"I don't understand why the Shadowhawk didn't use one of those arrows on the Deathscythe when I was unconscious," mused Duo aloud. "It could have destroyed us, but all I got was a bump on the head and Deathscythe will need more repairs, but it is not destroyed."

"The Shadowhawk disappeared from radar over the ocean." Miliardo drained his glass of wine. "Exhaustive sweeps of the region have turned up nothing."

"It may have soared back into space," suggested Heero. "The speed at which it flies may have fooled conventional radar."

Sally Po returned to the dining room. "Trynity went to bed. She had a headache." Sally laughed. "A few minutes with those girls could give anyone a headache. When I left them, I believe they were discussing their escorts and what they would be dressing them in for the Stardust Ball."

Duo almost laughed at the expression on Heero's face.

"If you need me for any mission that night…" began his friend.

"Any mission," continued Trowa, "even if it is to use Heavyarms to rescue a cat out of a tree…"

Miliardo laughed and set aside his glass. "Sorry, guys, but we will not be using gundams to shoot animals out of trees. You understand the absolute need for secrecy. Critics of my government would use any excuse to call for my abdication. They cannot forget Zechs Merquise."

"Not to mention the New World and Space Alliance," added Noin. "Vice Minister Une would be ruthlessly unforgiving if she knew the gundams were here instead of dismantled as she ordered."

"Fortunately the press hasn't discovered the destruction of Epyon. They still believe a meteor crashed to earth," said Sally Po. 

Before they could continue the discussion, the girls returned demanding the attention of their boys. Noin ordered Duo to send any new information to her as soon as possible, then Miliardo escorted her out after warning Relena to return home soon.

Trynity quickly pulled off her suit and slipped on a pair of pants and a jacket over a tee shirt. Jerking up her sleeves, she put on leather gloves, and with her tennis shoes in her hand, she opened her window and did not even pause before hopping out the window to fall many feet below to the beach. Upon hitting the sand, she rolled, then jumped up and dashed away along the shoreline until she came to the rocky shore where the Shadowhawk rested.

From inside her jacket she pulled out a small device and pressed a few buttons. Almost instantly her gundam appeared and Trynity scrambled over the rocks up onto its sleek form. Its sinister face was the most familiar and dear one she had seen in a week.

Once inside, she quickly flipped switches to cloak it again, then ran a diagnostic, searching for a reason the pilot of the Epyon had not been killed. She reviewed the data and came to a conclusion that someone had sent her a faulty report on its strength. She could not rely on the incompetence of the Coalition to carry out missions! It might take days or even weeks, but she would program the Shadowhawk to analyze the enemy's power levels appropriately in order to deliver strikes that would destroy.

As she was contemplating the work ahead, she noticed the communications button flashing. Trynity pressed it.

"Ah, Miss Stryfe! Finally you answer. I was beginning to think that perhaps Commander Noin had defeated you."

Trynity recognized the eerie voice although the face was unfamiliar. This man had sent her the orders. His dark eyes made her flesh crawl. "How is my father? Let me speak to him!"

"Not so fast, my dear girl. We have something to discuss. Your mission."

Trynity clenched her fists. "The Epyon gundam was stronger than your reports indicated," she accused. "But rest assured, my scanners report that it has been rendered inoperable."

"And the pilot?" he demanded angrily, his lip drawn in a sneer. "Commander Noin?"

Trynity swallowed her frustration. "I made a miscalculation based on your data. I assure you, it won't happen again!"

"I suggest you rectify your miscalculation."

The communication ended.

Trynity stared at the blank monitor for a moment, then switched views to scan the area with heat sensors. The monitor displayed results from the Seaside Lab, and after counting, Trynity determined that Prince Miliardo must have taken the prey away. Changing the scope of the scan, she found four objects headed away from the lab, the driver of the prince's limousine, the prince's personal aide who had remained in the laboratory, the prince, and the soon to be inoperable Commander Noin.

"Send out a dozen Leos and a half dozen Aries."

"Is that wise?" Noin was settled comfortably against the plush seat of the limousine. "That size force will likely attract attention, both from the press and the World and Space Alliance."

Miliardo leaned forward. "Benton, have you located the object on the radar?"

"No, sir. I saw it briefly. It may have been a blip in the system, or I saw something that wasn't there."

Miliardo raised a brow. "Our system doesn't make mistakes." Then he added, "Neither do you."

Noin pressed the button to close the partition between the front and back of the limousine. As it slid shut, she said, "Don't worry, Miliardo. Now that you have called out an army to protect us, we can concentrate on other things."

"Other things?" Miliardo turned his attention back to the computer screen built into the limousine. "Such as the latest report from Nelson?"

The screen went blank before his eyes and Noin's slender fingers were grasping the lapels of his jacket as the lighting began to dim, courtesy of the control on her side of the car. "No, Miliardo, other things. We haven't been alone together since I was in the hospital."

"Eight days," he said softly as he let her draw him to her.

"Twenty-one hours," she sighed, sliding her fingers up through his hair.

"Nine seconds," he finished just as their lips met. For a few moments he could forget about any potential danger. They were alone; no reporters to write editorials about the impropriety of a relationship between them. And danger from the stray sighting on the radar? Well that would be taken care of with the Aries suits that should arrive soon to patrol the skies above.

As he slid his arms around her, he heard the door to the skylight above slide open, and lifting his head, he could see the stars reflecting in Noin's dark eyes.

"Lucrezia," he murmured as his long contained feelings for her bubbled to his lips. He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him, but he was struck speechless as the stars in her eyes suddenly melted away to be replaced by the menacing form of a gundam swinging a pulsing object.

Even before he could react, Noin threw him off. "Stop the car!"

They were thrown together as the driver slammed on the brakes. A loud explosion from ahead rocked the car.

Miliardo heard Noin laughing beneath him. "I knew there would be fireworks with you!"

Despite the danger, he had to laugh. He pulled her up and jerked the door open. They dived out and rolled away just in time. The gundam had flung energy bursts that resembled small stars at the car, and Miliardo covered Noin to protect her from the debris raining down on them. He saw Benton dive to safety, but the driver hadn't escaped.

"Where are those damn Aries suits?" shouted Noin.

As if in answer, the gundam above jerked as several shots hit its back. Before further attack could disable it, the wings of the Shadowhawk unfolded and it shot high into the sky.

Noin shoved Miliardo off her. "I can take care of myself! Get behind the Leos." Before he could stop her, Noin was running to the nearest Aries that touched down. She threw off her sword, tossed aside her ceremonial uniform jacket and scrambled up to the open hatch. The pilot inside leapt out, and Noin gave Miliardo one last look before she swung into the cockpit and the door closed.

The Leos arrived to take up position beneath to protect the prince as Noin took her mobile suit into the sky. She opened communications to her forces. "This is Aries I, state you positions." She received reports from Aries II, III, IV and V, but Aries VI did not respond. Noin realized it must have been destroyed already. There was no time to regret the loss. 

The Leos were firing, and Noin saw the Shadowhawk diving, its deadly bow nocked with a pulsing arrow aimed for her. But Noin had already been in this position before and she wasn't about to be so easily defeated. The arrow sliced through the air towards her.

"Noin!" She heard Miliardo's voice and almost didn't turn to the side in time to avoid the attack.

"Zechs!" She shouted angrily. "Where are you?"

"Aries VI."

"I should shoot you down myself! I told you to stay with the Leos."

He laughed. "I am not going to hide like an old woman while you steal all the glory."

The arrow exploded into the ground, taking out two Leos. The Shadowhawk swung its mace, knocking out two more while deflecting with its wings laser beams shot by the others. Noin ignited the boosters of her suit and flew high, planning to dive attack, but the gundam hawk turned to follow instantly. Aries II and III tried to attack, but the gundam threw out more energy stars, knocking them down. Noin continued her ascent, her suit shuddering as she neared the atmosphere, the heat becoming almost unbearable.

"Turn back, Noin!" warned Zechs. "The Aries can't take it!"

Nor could she, but the Shadowhawk did not relent. Suddenly she saw another Aries attack the gundam with its laser beam sword, the blow falling on its left wing. The gundam paused for a split second, but it was long enough for Noin to begin the descent away from the atmosphere. The Leos were scattering their firepower to the sky and Aries IV and V were fast approaching. But the Shadowhawk threw off the Aries Noin realized must be Zechs. Aries VI tumbled away, and the gundam nocked its bow again, this time with two arrows. Noin was horrified to see it aim at Zechs, but suddenly it spun and let them loose toward her.

As she braced for the impact, Aries IV and V crossed her path, taking the hits and exploding into fireballs that crashed to the earth destroying another Leo. Noin had no time to mourn the loss of the pilots. Flying through the debris, she ducked beneath the Shadowhawk's widespread wings and approached Aries VI.

"Miliardo, get out of here! Please!"

To her surprise, he flew straight to her, throwing the arms of the mobile suit wide and pulling hers into an embrace.

"Zechs!" she shouted angrily. "I'm glad you care, but now is not the time!"

"Noin, the Shadowhawk wants to destroy you. You, Noin!"

The gundam soared high, them began another dive toward them, and a deadly arrow already nocked. She realized Miliardo was right! The attack on the Epyon when it had been destroyed and Deathscythe merely damaged, the attack on the car, the destruction of Aries IV and V, all pointed to her as the object of the gundam's attack.

Quickly, she unbuckled from her seat and opened the hatch to see the hatch on Aries VI opening. There was no time to wait. Noin leapt the distance, barely managing to grasp the edge of the door. She dangled thousands of feet above the earth for a moment before Miliardo grasped her forearms and dragged her in.

Landing on his lap, she quickly released Aries I as Miliardo closed the hatch door. They both watched Aries I drift away, and Miliardo maneuvered Aries VI quickly away just as the Shadowhawk released the arrow. It hit the mobile suit in the middle, and they watched as it shuddered with energy pulses before exploding from the inside out.

Noin felt Miliardo shudder. He flipped open the communications. "Noin!"

She slid her arms around him and laid her head on his chest as he repeated the agonized cry. His heart was pounding erratically, and so was hers.

The Shadowhawk's laughter rang out. Miliardo held her tightly against him and she felt his lips against her head. Although the Leos were still firing at it, the Shadowhawk soared upward until it disappeared. A moment later, the Heavyarms and Sandrock gundams arrived on the scene and stopped near the Aries were Miliardo had landed.

"Are we too late?" asked Trowa from the Heavyarms.

"Yes," snapped Miliardo. He relayed the last known coordinates of the Shadowhawk, and they hit their boosters to soar upwards in pursuit. But they soon returned. The hawk had disappeared.

Noin remained silent as Trowa and Quatre gave their report. Their communications might be monitored, likely was. Although their systems indicated a scan was run on them, they could not find the gundam.

"We came as soon as we could," said Quatre. "I'm only sorry it was too late." Noin could see by his mournful eyes that Quatre deeply regretted their tardy arrival. He could not see her because Miliardo had switched off visual from the Aries. 

"Where is Commander Noin?" asked Trowa.

Miliardo did not answer right away, and when he did, Noin was touched by the intensity of his sorrow. "She didn't make it. The Shadowhawk killed her."

Noin flipped off the switch closing communications and turned to look into his teary eyes. "I love you, too."


	5. Rock, Paper, Scissors I

****

Royal Palace, Cinq Kingdom

"The group calling itself the Coalition for Earth and Colony Independence is taking credit for Commander Noin's death."

Miliardo stared at Colonel Nelson's face on his communicator screen. "Are they based on a colony?"

"Unknown. They may be based on Earth." Nelson's insulted tone reminded Miliardo to use more tact with the man. He was responsible for Cinq Kingdom security in space, and suggesting the threat came from a colony hinted that he might not be performing his duties adequately.

"I will inform my men to find any groups allied with the Coalition." Miliardo reached out to close the communication, but Nelson's voice stopped him.

"I was very sorry to hear of Commander Noin's death and regret missing her funeral."

Miliardo sighed. "That was two weeks ago." Nelson's belated sympathies were almost offensive. Again, he was about to close out the screen when Nelson laughed softly.

"You have moved on quickly. The news reports from Earth are filled with your romance with that blond actress. What is her name? Oh yes, Roxana Rivera."

Miliardo frowned. He disliked discussing his personal life with his subordinates. "Lucrezia Noin was a friend. That was it."

"I would hope there wasn't anything more between you!" Nelson's voice was slick and annoying. "How could she have commanded your army and been at your personal beck and call? That would not have pleased the Cinq Kingdom Assembly, and with their reluctance to recognize you as king, I would not want to irritate them, were I you."

His tone was offensive, but Miliardo managed to remain calm. "A moot point, Lionel, as I already told you. I was fond of her, but Noin was just a fellow soldier and a dear friend."

"She was a friend of mine also." Nelson closed the communication.

Miliardo looked across the room where the bleached blond woman leaned her back against the wall, her arms crossed as her pale blue eyes watched him over the rims of her dark sunglasses. She was wearing a skintight, short black leather skirt and a matching halter that barely covered her. Her shiny black boots reached her thighs. OZ issue, he thought with a raised brow.

"When did you get here?" he asked as he tried to keep his eyes on her face. The rest of her was quite distracting.

"Didn't you hear the commotion? The press blocked traffic and my limo could barely park outside the palace."

"Dressed like that, you no doubt stopped the traffic on your own," he remarked, trying to turn his attention to the work on his desk.

She pushed away from the wall and crossed the room. Miliardo gave up trying to work and concentrated on breathing normally as he watched her. The latter was very nearly impossible when she put her hands on the edge of his desk and leaned forward.

"Give the public what they want, my little prince." She puckered her bright pink lips.

Miliardo sat back with a nervous laugh. "I am wondering who I like better, Lucrezia Noin or Roxie Rivera."

She hopped up to sit on the corner of his desk and bent backward to prop on her elbow. Miliardo could see more of than he wanted in his office in the middle of the afternoon. "I think you know the answer to that, loverboy."

The door opened and Benton stuck his head in. Seeing the woman perched on his desk in her provocative pose, he frowned. "Miss Sally Po is on line three, Your Excellency."

"I'll take it." Miliardo was both glad of the interruption and annoyed by it.

"Miss Rivera," prompted Benton, frowning as he held the door open.

"I can take a hint." She stretched across the desk and kissed Miliardo's cheek. "I shall see you later."

Pushing up her sunglasses, she sauntered to the door where she paused by Benton to turn her head back to Miliardo, giving him one last lingering gaze over the top of her sunglasses while blowing him a kiss. When she disappeared out the door, Benton rubbed his nose and sneezed, an obvious reaction to her strong perfume. The young man closed the door with a slight bang. Disapproval loud and clear.

"Your Excellency, are you feeling all right? You look flushed." The former medical officer laughed and tapped her cheek. "Is your actress friend still there?"

Miliardo reached up to touch his cheek and his fingers came away with bright pink lipstick. He laughed. "She just left."

"You are shocking the kingdom with your wild behavior. Noin's death has not left you as unaffected as you would like to claim."

He sighed. "Relena is furious. She hasn't spoken to me in days."

Sally picked up a newspaper. "The critics are unkind towards your new friend. This paper calls her a blond bimbo who delivers her lines with all the emotion of a first generation computer. He says she owes her career to the patronage of a certain prince who should spare the public her questionable performances and hide her in his boudoir."

Miliardo chucked although he could still feel a blush warming his cheeks. "That certain actress would love to hide in my boudoir, but I am not yet ready to forsake every shred of decency."

Sally set aside the newspaper. "Any new information about the Shadowhawk?"

"No, but the Coalition is claiming responsibility, so it has obviously gotten its hands on a rather deadly gundam. Nelson is investigating the colonies."

"You may be interested to learn that inter-space communications logs show that Dr. Stryfe exchanged messages with that very group a few weeks before his disappearance." Sally's face was very serious.

Miliardo frowned. "Have you asked Trynity about it?"

"She doesn't discuss her father." Sally sighed. "She is prickly, like a cactus. Period. About anything! She doesn't let anyone get close to her. Her father's death has hit her very hard."

Sitting back in his chair, Miliardo steepled his fingers. "You might think she would fit in with our reclusive group of orphans. Her mother died when she was barely walking on an attack on Colony L3, then her father was sent to L10 to complete a gundam that was ultimately destroyed by a laboratory accident. Before that failure sent his staff scurrying back to civilization, scientists and technicians surrounded her. Hardly the family life of which movies are made."

"You are very well informed," commented Sally.

"I learned most of this when Treize Kushranada contacted Dr. Stryfe in hopes of bringing him into OZ. But Stryfe refused to have anything to do with him. I took the liberty of tapping his computer system to find the records of his work."

"And?" prompted Sally who didn't seem surprised by his tactics.

"I could find nothing. Even the most sophisticated search yielded no record of any calculation or design of the gundam he had been building."

"Very interesting. I have also noted that Trynity does not make calculations on paper, nor does she take notes for any class. Her physics teacher has all but accused her of cheating. Her mathematics teacher cannot get her to demonstrate how she arrives at her answers and is very frustrated by her." Sally looked exasperated and Miliardo knew the reason before she voiced it. "I am spending more time at that academy than we originally intended. The place is a joke to our pilots and a waste of time for Trynity Stryfe."

"Nonetheless, I believe it is important for their future to attempt some semblance of normalcy. Someday there may be no need for the gundams, and what will become of their pilots? They have been trained to do nothing else." Miliardo frowned. "If Trynity is a reflection of Ivan Stryfe, then it is highly likely that his brain was his computer. Dead or not, we owe it to him to keep his daughter safe. He entrusted her care to me, and if someone is holding him against his will, we need to ensure that his daughter cannot be used to force him to do something against his principles."

*****

"Trynity, do not give in to the demands of these jackals!"

Before Trynity could reply, her father was dragged away and she found herself looking into the cold, sinister black eyes of his captor.

"There, Miss Stryfe, you can see that your father is alive and well. I congratulate you on completing your mission. The outpouring of grief for Commander Noin was most gratifying. I almost shed a few tears myself."

His insincerity disgusted Trynity. "Let my father go! I have done what you asked of me."

"I regret that I cannot let your father go just yet. He has been very helpful. Very helpful indeed! Today, we captured a transport of Taurus suits intended for Cinq Kingdom space security and he has graciously agreed to modify their design."

Trynity despaired that her father was forced to work for them, probably under threat of her safety. But she stared at the Coalition commander without betraying her feelings. "What more do you want of me?"

"I am not a greedy man. While he might deny it to the world, you and I know that Miliardo Peacecraft has gundams at his command."

"I have information on three," she volunteered. "The gundams designated in OZ files as 03 and 04 came close enough in my last encounter to scan completely. I have downloaded all the information you need. As for gundam 02, when I briefly engaged it, it appeared to have a cloaking device similar to the Shadowhawk, but I did complete a partial scan."

"That should be enough for now. Transmit the information you have gathered. I will see to it that your father studies your findings. He may find them useful in redesigning the Taurus suits."

Trynity entered the codes to upload the information. "Is that enough?"

"You must get information on the remaining gundams, especially the gundam that used the zero system. I expect it within the week."

Within the week! "Just how do you expect me to do that? Shall I send an engraved invitation?"

"I will leave that in your capable hands, Trynity Stryfe. I want that information."

"Shall I destroy the gundams?"

A slow, malicious smile curved his thick lips as he stroked his black mustache. "Much as I sense you would like to do just that, my bloodthirsty young amazon, I may have need of them in the future. It would give me great pleasure to use his own gundams against Zechs Merquise."

The communication ended.

Trynity sat in her gundam staring at the blank screen for several moments before she double-checked the Shadowhawk's energy levels. After assuring herself that it would remain cloaked and undiscovered she reluctantly left the comfortable cockpit that had been her playground when her father worked tirelessly to complete his project for the Barton Foundation. Shadowhawk had been her home, her guardian, her only friend. Now she had made Shadowhawk a killer. And Shadowhawk had made her a killer.

After leaving behind the rocky shoreline, Trynity kicked off her shoes and carried them as she walked in the wet sand on the beach. This was new to her: the sand, the water, the soft breeze not created by an air recycling system. When she was below Seaside Laboratory, she sat on the shore's edge, hugging her legs to her as the water lapped at her toes. Her father had never cared that she ran about in her bare feet. It was easier to climb about on the scraps of gundanium if she weren't wearing shoes. Now she just enjoyed digging her toes into the sand as she leaned back to look up at the sky. The stars were different here, she thought, but still distant. 

Space was lonely.

Seaside Lab was lonely.

Trynity was lonely.

Looking through the moonlit night toward the rocky stretch where she had left the Shadowhawk, Trynity felt hot tears stinging her eyes. Was she a 'bloodthirsty amazon'? Part of her had felt immense pleasure at completing her mission as she watched the Aires suit explode. Trynity reasoned that it meant she had gained her father more time, but she knew her training had driven all empathy for the woman she had killed from her. Trynity would do it again. There was no one for her but her father, and she would do anything to keep him safe.

"There you are!"

Hearing Duo Maxwell's voice, Trynity quickly wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeve, then slipped on her glasses. He was the last person on Earth she wanted to see. "What do you want?"

"Miss Sally checked on you before going to bed, but you weren't in your room."

Trynity frowned. "Let me guess; you drew the short straw."

"Nope! Rock beats scissors. I lost."

Trynity raised a brow as he sat near her in the sand. "How did you manage to lose that ridiculous game?" She had observed her fellow orphans using that game to see who would earn some petty reward such as the choice of movie to watch. Or to determine who would be forced to do an unpleasant task such as putting out the trash or, apparently, looking for her on the beach.

"My rotten luck," he responded as he took a rock and skipped it along the water.

Trynity tried not to be hurt by his remark. "There is no luck involved." Without realizing what she was doing, she chose a stone and felt pleased when it skipped further than his had.

Duo glanced at her after watching the stone.

She looked away toward the water. "Against Chang Wufei, you should choose paper because he always chooses rock. To him, rock symbolizes strength."

"I never noticed that!"

"Trowa chooses scissors on the first try, paper on the second and on the third round he chooses paper again, and continues in that fashion. He never chooses rock."

Duo made a stone skip four times. "And Quatre?"

"He alternates between paper and rock, and after six such alterations, he changes to scissors. He shrugs before he chooses scissors." Trynity skipped a rock five times and smiled.

After it plopped into the water, Duo turned his head to look at her. "Heero?"

Trynity sighed. "His method could be considered a challenge. Heero is so quick that he can see his opponent's throw before he chooses his own. To beat him, you must be quicker and change in a split second." She added. "But to help you, he blinks once before paper, twitches his nose before rock, and he slightly lifts his left shoulder before he chooses scissors."

Duo laughed. "I will remember that!"

"I doubt it," she remarked under her breath, but Duo heard her.

"You might be surprised, Miss Stryfe!" He carefully chose a stone from the beach and stood. He flung it, and they both watched as it skittered away, hopping along the water until it disappeared.

"Fourteen," she reported with awe as she stood and slapped sand from her pants.

Duo reached down to grab the shoes she had forgotten. "Thirteen actually. I never count the last because the stone sinks."

"My mistake!" She snatched her shoes, irritated that he had corrected her. She marched away fuming.

"Don't worry, Miss Stryfe! I won't tell anyone you made a mistake!" he called after her, and she heard him laughing.

For some reason, his laughter hurt.


	6. Rock, Paper, Scissors II

****

Royal Academy

"Three more days! I am so excited!" Relena clasped her hands before her and Duo stole a look at Heero. He was rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, his head lowered like a beaten dog.

"Heero!" Relena threw herself at him, and he was unable to avoid her attack. If only he could use the zero system against her! She was tugging on his arm. "Heero, you did order a corsage for me!?"

"I did," piped Quatre.

Relena frowned at Heero before looking at Quatre. "Not too big, not too small?"

"You will love it!" exclaimed Quatre. 

Then he launched into an explanation containing such words as baby's breath - Duo couldn't imagine such a thing!

When he had finished, Relena clapped her hands. "Good!" Relena looked around. "Where is Catherine?"

"I believe she maneuvered Trowa into the supply closet," said Wufei. "I heard a few brooms fall over, but nothing in the last two minutes and thirty seconds."

Duo laughed. "I know for a fact Trowa can only hold his breath for three minutes. She had better let him up for air!"

Relena turned to look at Heero. "How long can you hold your breath?"

Heero shot Duo an angry glare that made him chuckle, then told Relena, "I can't. Any prolonged oxygen deprivation makes me vomit."

The disappointed look on Relena's face made Duo snort with laughter. She turned to him. "Who are you taking to the Stardust Ball?"

He sobered. "I am leaving my options open."

"And you Wufei?"

"I have no time for such ridiculous activities!"

"Just as I thought! No date!" Relena smiled smugly. "One of you is taking Trynity Stryfe."

Wufei's expletive was lost when the supply room door opened and Trowa stumbled out gasping for air. Shiny lipgloss smeared his face and his hair was oddly parted. Heero shook with silent laughter as Trowa ducked into the men's room.

Catherine came to stand by Relena.

Relena raised a brow. "Did he go in there to vomit?"

"What are you talking about?" Catherine was obviously annoyed by Relena's implication. Duo was almost hoping for a fight, even it was nothing more than flinging insults. "Why do you think he is vomiting?"

Heero managed to slip away to the men's room, and after a moment there was raucous laughter. Relena realized she was the butt of a joke and smiled apologetically at Catherine. Quatre sighed and left after mumbling something about finding Hilde. Good old Hilde, thought Duo. At least she wasn't a man-eating beast like Relena and Catherine.

"Well?" Relena turned a stare on Duo and Wufei. "My brother asked if Trynity Stryfe will be attending the ball. Neither he, nor Sally, will be pleased if Miss Stryfe has to sit home alone that night."

Duo looked at Wufei.

Wufei looked him in the eye.

And without words they began the ritual.

Wufei laughed. "Ha! Rock beats scissors!"

"How delightful!" Relena hugged Duo. "I know you and Trynity will have a wonderful time!" She marched to the men's room door and pushed it open. "Heero Yuy! Walk me to class!"

"I have math! I can't! There isn't enough time!" He was still giving excuses as Relena dragged him away.

Catherine didn't wait for Trowa. She was obviously annoyed by his behavior. Lucky Trowa! Wufei walked ahead chuckling as he congratulated himself on his victory.

"What amuses him?" asked Trowa as he fell into step beside Duo. When Duo explained, Trowa sighed. 

"I don't know whom I feel more sorry for: you or me." Trowa moved ahead to talk to Wufei.

As he came to the door to the math classroom, Duo found himself face to face with Trynity. There were curls hanging in her eyes, her glasses were on the end of her nose, and looking down, he saw that once again he was standing on her shoelace. One of her brows shot up.

Duo took his foot off her lace, then hopped in the room. Wufei spun quickly to reach behind Duo. He slammed the door in Trynity's face just as the bell was ringing. He received several high fives before Trynity walked stiffly in. Her gaze for Wufei was deadly, and Duo felt a twinge of guilt to be caught congratulating him.

"Class, please take your seats!" called Miss Dimster. "Class! I said take your seats!"

In a brief moment of quiet as they obeyed, Duo heard Heero say, "Miss Stryfe one, Wufei two." 

Duo chuckled until he noticed Trynity glaring at him from over the rim of her glasses. A sobering sight indeed!

"Miss Stryfe, I believe you entered after the bell. I am afraid I will have to issue you a demerit for tardiness." Miss Dimster leaned over her paper-strewn desk, shoving aside a potted plant Quatre had given her. A teddy bear rolled of the edge of her desk to land at Trowa's feet.

"Now where did I put my pen?" Miss Dimster asked no one in particular as she turned around to look on her file cabinet.

Trowa kicked the bear in the air and batted it toward Heero who spiked it at Wufei. Wufei snatched it and hid it in his lap as Miss Dimster turned around with her hands on her hips. Without a word she marched to her bookshelf in the back of the room, and Wufei half stood as he fired the bear at Quatre. The bear hit him in the face and bounced back, flipping end over end towards Duo. Duo quickly pulled up his book and deflected it. As Miss Dimster turned around, the bear landed upright on Trynity's desk.

"Miss Stryfe!" The teacher's screech made Duo jump and everyone else squirm. She stood holding her pen, a shocked look on her face. "What are you doing with Master Cuddles?"

Trynity was staring at the bear nose to nose. "I'm not exactly sure, Miss Dimster."

"Return him to my desk immediately! You can expect to meet with the headmaster!"

Duo watched her walk with quiet dignity to the teacher's desk where she placed the bear facing Trowa. If Duo didn't know any better, he'd say the bear was accusing him with his button eyes. Trowa dropped his chin to stare at the floor.

Miss Dimster returned to the front of the classroom oblivious to the whispers and soft laughter. She seized the bear and held it close, her cheeks pink with anger. But she took a few deep breaths, then said, "Miss Stryfe, Master Cuddles forgive you."

"I am so relieved," murmured Trynity.

Still holding the bear, Miss Dimster began class. "I realize many of you feel intense anxiety when we work on word problems, so today we will begin by doing some relaxation exercises."

Quatre's hand shot in the air. "Miss Dimster, I do yoga when I want to relax."

Duo prayed Dimster wouldn't make them get on the floor to do yoga.

"That is very nice to know, Mr. Winner, but we are going to do some simple relaxation exercises. Now, everyone close your eyes and take a deep breath.

Miss Dimster closed her eyes and inhaled noisily. Quatre turned quickly and raised his middle finger at Wufei. Wufei started to rise, but dropped back in his seat as the teacher opened her eyes.

"Much more relaxing! Now, do it again and imagine yourself in a comforting, pleasant place."

Duo shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes just to avoid trouble. He expected to see the cockpit of his beloved Deathscythe Hell, but instead he saw a moonlight beach and shimmering water rippling as a rock skipped across the surface.

Horrified, he opened his eyes and spun to look at Trynity, and he saw her glaring straight ahead at Master Cuddles. She looked at him then. Their eyes met. His stomach did a flip, and he looked quickly away.

"Looking a little green," whispered Wufei. "Were you picturing the Stardust Ball with your enchanting date?"

Duo did not look at Trynity again although he had to fight the urge. Why did he want to? She was messy! She chewed her nails! Her glasses were crooked! Her hair was a disaster! Her damn shoes were untied! What kind of person walked around with untied shoes?!

"Now count back from ten slowly," droned the teacher.

She was anti-social! She was rude! She had no sense of humor! She was a perfectionist! She stared! She glared!

Her smile was heaven!

Duo shot to his feet. "Miss Dimster! May I be excused? I don't feel well!" Duo had to get out of there!

The dreamy teacher frowned. "Mr. Maxwell, please sit down. I am sure you are merely hungry. If you wish, I can pass crackers to the class. Do you think that might help?"

"I do!" exclaimed Quatre who jumped from his seat and hurried to take the box of Triscuits she took from her desk drawer. He began to pass them out with enthusiasm.

Trynity looked at the clock. Twenty minutes and no sign of any math again. She questioned Miss Dimster's ability to teach even basic equations. The only reason Trynity was placed in this sorry excuse for a classroom was because Sally Po wanted to keep her charges together. No doubt Duo Maxwell was responsible for their demotion in math. A Triscuit dropped on her desk, and when the teacher looked away to find a page in the book, Trynity flicked the cracker at Duo. It landed in the middle of his desk.

"You seem to need it more than I!"

"Miss Stryfe!"

Trynity clutched her math book, mortified by what she had done. But the surprised looks she got from Quatre and Wufei coupled with the thumbs up from Heero and smile from Trowa were oddly satisfying. Somehow she thought her father would have approved. She could hear Duo munching on the Triscuits and didn't bother to hide her smile. He started to cough until Wufei pounded his back.

Miss Dimster waited until he was breathing again to start class. "Now that we have satisfied some basic needs, let us all turn to page one hundred and thirty-three. Do problems number one and…" She stopped speaking, her startled eyes gazing in the direction of Duo Maxwell. "Yes, Mr. Maxwell? What do you need now?"

"I have the answer."

Trynity had not even opened the book she still clutched in her hands. She looked over at Duo. Neither had he! What was he up to now?

Miss Dimster was obviously disconcerted. "Well, then you may share it with the class."

"Four hundred twenty-six kilometers per hour."

Miss Dimster looked down at her own book scratching her head, then turned back to Duo. "Amazing as it seems, you are correct!"

Flipping open her book, Trynity found the page.

"I am very disappointed in you, Mr. Maxwell!" Miss Dimster was almost hyperventilating. "I can only assume you have gotten the answer from my book when I was not looking."

Trynity stared at the problem. _A supersonic transport leaves new city at twelve o'clock…_ Trynity could not help herself. She began to giggle.

"Miss Stryfe! Since you think cheating is a laughing matter, you may accompany Mr. Maxwell to the headmaster's office immediately. I will not tolerate your disrespect!"

Trynity picked up her books, and on the way to the door, she paused at Miss Dimster's desk. She lifted Master Cuddles and gave him a hug, and then with as much dignity as she could muster she walked to the door, her lips twitching with laughter. Heero nodded to her. Trowa smiled.

Duo was right behind her until she headed the wrong direction. Well acquainted with the path, Duo had to show her the way. They didn't speak until they were in the corridor near the headmaster's office. Duo reached out to catch her arm, and she turned to face him.

"I am sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to drag you down with me."

His big blue eyes seemed sincere. "It was not your fault - for once."

Duo reached out to tuck a curl behind her ear. "Maybe you should just cut this mop off."

Trynity reached behind him and grabbed his long braid. "Maybe you should cut yours."

"Let go of my hair, Miss Stryfe!" His tone was playful and Trynity suddenly felt weak at the knees.

She tugged on the braid. "Maybe I will cut it off myself while you are sleeping."

Duo moved closer and her back came up against the wall. "My, my, my, Miss Stryfe, what would Miss Sally say if she caught you sneaking into my room in the deep dark night."

"I would just have to find out," she replied breathlessly.

He reached out again to tuck back the same curl and the touch of his fingers against her cheek made butterflies flutter in her stomach. "Trynity Stryfe, would you attend the Stardust Ball with me?"

She didn't detect mockery in his eyes. "I can't dance," she confessed.

"Neither can I. We can laugh at everyone else."

"We don't need to go to a dance to do that," she pointed out.

Before he could reply, the door to the headmaster's office opened and the stern man stepped out.

"Mr. Maxwell! I was expecting you several minutes ago. Please bring Miss Stryfe immediately."

They walked to the office together, and before Duo stepped in with the headmaster, Trynity said, "I will do it. I will go with you, Duo Maxwell."

After a silly grin, he disappeared inside.

As far as reprimands were concerned, this one had been fairly mild. Duo suspected that Ironfist Mr. Himmler was more eager to tear into Trynity. Duo felt a little sorry that she was coming under the ax, but when she passed him in the outer office, she rolled her eyes and he just knew she would handle herself well with Ironfist.

Lunch was already in progress. His arrival didn't cause any comment in the quiet cafeteria, so Duo paused to study the menu, then stepped before the stern-faced women. Their hair was plastered back by nets; their expressions were hard as rocks. The food was already tucked away and hidden by metal covers, yet Duo knew his rights that he was entitled to a meal despite the evil glares of the harridans behind the counter. He and these women, they were old friends due to his frequent forays to the headmaster's office. One of them raised a ladle as if defending the kitchen.

Duo took a breath. "I see by the menu that there are turkey club sand…"

"We're all out of it!" snapped one cook.

Duo bent back to consult the menu again. "Then I will have a Chef Sal…"

"None left!" The woman spoke so harshly a wad of spit hit Duo in the eye.

"Okay, okay! No need to get testy." Duo wiped his eye with the back of his hand. "Let's try the Tasty Turkey Toes!"

"Gone!"

"Peanut Butter Sandwich?"

"No more!"

"Bread and water?"

"Not today!"

Duo stared at the woman at the head of the line. Her dark eyes seemed to pierce his soul. What he wouldn't do to have Deathscythe Hell with him at this very moment! Didn't she realize he was the God of Death?

But he hunched over his shoulders, defeated.

"I'll have the meal," he mumbled in a small voice.

"I didn't hear you," goaded the cook.

"I said…" Duo swallowed the Triscuit that was creeping up his throat. "I will have the meal!"

Several students paused in their quiet conversations and he realized he had almost shouted. A sound that was suspiciously like a cackle turned his attention back to the cooks who stood ready to prepare his tray.

The first woman took a scoop, dug deep into a kettle and drew out a glob of what appeared to have been mashed potatoes at one time, but there were angles and shapes in the opaque grayish white matter that he did not want to speculate about. The potatoes hit his tray with a thwack! that brought a brief silence to the quiet cafeteria. Duo tried to save his plate from the gravy lady, but she snatched it from his reaching hand.

"You asked for the meal," she reminded him in a flinty voice. "Now you are going to get it."

His toes curled as she spooned on thick goo that contained chunks of something brown that he supposed was meat, and Duo was unpleasantly reminded of the last time that he had the flu. The Triscuits were trying to escape again, so he pounded his chest and forced them back down.

Taking a deep breath, he watched his tray move further down the line. The veggie lady piled on so many cooked sliced carrots that they overflowed, then she snorted as she doused it with what was being passed off as cheese sauce. A thick scum had developed and the carrots were trapped beneath. Too bad, thought Duo. He had considered eating them.

"I don't need dessert," he squeaked as his tray headed down the line.

"I insist." The snaggle-toothed woman's low, deadly voice warned Duo to back off. So he stood helplessly by as she unloaded a spoonful of chocolate pudding. For a moment it appeared to be normal: a rich brown color, smooth tempting texture. But it was only an illusion! Suddenly an air bubble emerged from the dessert, popped and a quivering antennae poked through. Duo's knees knocked.

"Oops!" The hag chuckled. "I wondered where that thing had gone off to" Using her bare fingers, she sifted through the pudding until she picked out the unidentifiable creature. Squishing it between her fingers, she tossed it over her shoulder, then grinned at Duo and handed him the tray.

His hands were shaking as he accepted it. The group of women crowded together and looked at him expectantly. Oh God, please no! Not the special treat! His eyes flew to the menu. It was special tray day! Those who had a mark on the bottom of their tray received an additional treat from the kitchen. Holding his breath, Duo slowly raised his tray to see if it was marked. It was blank! He heaved a sigh of relief, then grinned at the disappointed cooking crew.

"Thank you very much, my dear lovely ladies. I shall be seeing you again tomorrow."

He started to leave.

"You forgot your milk!"

Slowly he turned back.

"A growing boy like you needs milk!" 

Duo reached out to take the milk carton she was holding out for him. "Thank you for reminding me," he managed to say although the contents of the carton rattled.

As he walked away, he heard the women chortling and snorting with laughter. They were having way too much fun! He paused to get his bearings and received a dark glare from one of the lunch monitors patrolling, so he quickly moved away. The monitors were quite scary women! There were only three, but they wore uniforms, were solidly built, and looked as if they wouldn't take crap from hardened criminals in prison. Their presence was more than enough to keep strict peace in the cafeteria. No one dared speak above a whisper as they walked with their hands clasped behind their backs, their bushy brows drawn together to form a perpetual frown. Duo wasn't quite sure what would happen if anyone acted up. No one had ever tried.

Duo spied his friends at a far table. Seemed they had arrived late for lunch as well because they had trays of food before them. Catherine was sitting so close to Trowa that they appeared to be joined at the hip. Trowa was trying to feed the carrots to her, so she was keeping her hands busy trying to defend herself. Relena was whispering in Heero's ear as he stared at his mashed potatoes and gravy with intense interest. Wufei appeared to be dissecting the pudding while Quatre sat at the end of the table facing Hilde. Their hands were clasped on the table and they gazed silently into each other's eyes. 

Duo caught himself wondering how long Trynity would be with the headmaster.

Why did he just have that thought?

As he walked toward the group, he heard a whoosh, and he turned to the double door opening of the cafeteria, and Duo's knees almost buckled. 

Into the cafeteria strode a girl, her long blond hair swinging with her confident gait. She paused and began to survey the room, her piercing eagle eyes catching every movement under eyebrows that formed sinister vees. 

She was back! Quatre Raberba Winner was a dead man!

Sacrifice was noble, thought Duo as he stepped into the girl's direct view to the table she sought. Duo had seen the oblivious Quatre kissing Hilde's fingers.

"Duo Maxwell," sneered the girl. Her gaze fell to his tray, and he felt lower than a dog.

"D…D…Dorothy Catalonia." She scarred the crap out of him.

"Step aside!" she ordered imperiously.

"I…I can't do that," he said in a peevish voice. He had wanted to warn Quatre somehow, but her cold, menacing eyes reduced him to a jellyfish.

Dorothy took a step forward, and Duo did the only thing he could think of.

She stopped when a carrot coated in orange goo hit and stuck to her white blouse. She stared at it for a moment in disbelief, then slowly raised her eyes to his. But a movement behind him caught her eyes, and he saw by the murderous gleam that Quatre had been discovered.

"Time to liven things up around here," he announced, then shouted, "Food fight!" and launched the rest of his carrots at Dorothy.

"You stupid…" A dinner roll hit her in the back of the head, and Duo ducked to avoid the ricochet.

"What is going on?" demanded one of the matron monitors. But a glob of pudding hit her cheek. When it was obvious she could not or would not retaliate, food began to rain in the cafeteria from many directions. Girls ran screaming as the remnants of almost untouched meals threatened to destroy their makeup and hair. Duo dropped his milk carton on the floor, and the look of sheer terror in Dorothy Catalonia's eyes was worth any fallout later on. He slammed down his foot on the carton, and the sour, curdled contents showered her.

Spinning, she spied her quarry. "Quatre Raberba Winner!"

"Hilde!" cried Quatre as he tried to push her toward a back exit. "Save yourself!"

But Dorothy catapulted herself at them and the three tumbled to the floor, fingernails clawing, clumps of hair flying. Dorothy snarled, Hilde growled, and Quatre whimpered as he tried to hold them apart.

Catherine scurried away but was pelted with an open-faced peanut butter sandwich that tangled in her hair. Relena was wailing with dismay and left the table where they had all been sitting to go to the center of the cafeteria. 

"Please!" she cried. "Everyone stop this nonsense! We must have peace in here!"

The table she had been sitting at was flipped to its side and Duo saw Trowa leap over to land beside a ducking Heero. Occasionally one of their heads popped up as they ejected what food they could get their hands on.

Duo looked at his tray, glanced at the women at the kitchen staring with horror at the apocalyptic cafeteria. They saw him.

He grinned and lifted his tray. "You've got a date with your maker!"

Then he flung the tray with deadly precision toward the startled group. It hit the ledge about the serving area and flipped forward, dumping the contents over the women who shrieked with outrage. They took their spoons and began digging into their pans, hurling food into the fray. Duo took a pudding shot in the back, and he spun as he slipped on peach cobbler. As he crawled through the food, Duo saw Dorothy and Hilde covered in all manner of slop wrestling, and Quatre knelt by watching with a delighted, wicked leer on his pretty face. Wufei stood by with one hand filled with mashed potatoes, the other with pudding.

"People!" wailed Relena Peacecraft, throwing out her arms wide. "Please! Listen to me!"

Trowa looked at Heero.

Heero nodded grimly. "Mission accepted."

"You must stop this senseless violence!" cried the princess of total pacifism.

Suddenly a ball formed of mashed potatoes and gravy and pudding hit her forehead, flattened and slithered down her face.

Heero and Trowa stood.

"Mission complete," declared Heero, then turned to take Trowa's high five. They did a victory dance until Relena began wailing again.

"Heero! Heero Yuy!"

Trowa and Heero dived behind the table again.

The doors to the cafeteria suddenly swung wide open. Duo spun to see Trynity standing in the middle, her brows raised slightly. Duo glanced at Wufei. Wufei took aim and fired. Duo didn't think he could save her, but he had to try. He dashed and leapt.

Trynity bent back slightly one way, and the mashed potatoes pelted the headmaster in the chest. She ducked the pudding, and it splattered the headmaster's face just as Duo slid to a stop at Trynity's feet.

Duo lifted his head to look at her.

Her brows were raised high. "It's not every day I find a guy at my feet."

Before Duo could respond, the headmaster shouted.

"Chang Wufei! Come with me this minute!"

As he walked with a stiff back, his glare on Trynity, Duo heard Heero and smiled.

"Miss Stryfe: two. Wufei: two."

The limousine ride from the Royal Academy was achieved in complete silence. Trynity was amazed that the boys respected Sally Po so much that they were actually ashamed of their misbehavior. Trynity sat as far away from the food encrusted boys as possible and was quite proud that she had remained unscathed.

When they reached the Seaside Lab, each started to head to his own room until Sally Po's voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Just one minute! Get right back here now!"

They fell into a line before her, almost as if they were soldiers, thought Trynity. She stood apart from them with her arms folded.

"I cannot tell you how shocked I am by your behavior today! I have received not one, not two, but three phone calls about your behavior!" Her gaze fell upon Duo, Wufei and finally Trynity. Then she looked at Trowa and Heero. "You two are not innocent either!" Then Quatre. "You surprise me!"

Their heads hung.

Trynity felt her cheeks redden.

Sally Po put her hands on her hips. "Do you realize how foolish I will feel trying to explain your behavior to Prince Miliardo? You are wards of his kingdom! Your behavior today reflects badly on him."

"I didn't ask to be here," muttered Heero.

Trynity heard the resentment in his voice and saw that sentiment on the faces of the others. She didn't ask to be here either!

"That school is for weaklings and women!" declared Wufei, shooting Trynity a glare.

Sally gave an exasperated sigh. "I know this is difficult for you all, but you must try to lead as normal a life as possible." Now she smiled at them, and Trynity saw laughter sparkle in her eyes. As a guardian, she was seriously lacking authority. There would be no punishment! "So, now you have the afternoon to yourselves. The kitchen staff at the academy has been fired, and they will need at least a day to clean the cafeteria. I can think of something that you might enjoy doing. We will discuss any appropriate punishment later."

The boys quickly left, and Trynity started to go, but Sally put her hand out to stop her.

"Trynity, I was quite surprised to receive a call from the headmaster concerning your behavior. I realize this is all very new to you, having been educated by your father and by satellite classrooms far removed from other students, but you seem to be making no attempt to fit in."

"I don't fit in!" snapped Trynity. "I have no one. They have…"

"They have only each other, and now you have us." Sally put her hands on Trynity's shoulders. "Believe me, Trynity, that they have had difficulty adjusting, more than you can possibly know."

Trynity saw kindness in the woman. She softened towards her and shyly admitted, "Duo asked me to the Stardust Ball."

"Well!" Sally was obviously surprised. "Then we should go into the city to find you something suitable to wear."

"We aren't inviting Relena Peacecraft, are we?" Trynity would refuse to go if that were the case.

Sally put her arm around her shoulders and they headed to the door. "I think Princess Relena is still quite upset by the experience today. Now you must tell me about math class! Who is Master Cuddles?"


	7. Shadowhawk sends an invitation; Nataku r...

****

Royal Palace, Cinq Kingdom

"I'm sorry, your Excellency, but she wouldn't leave, and I did not think you would want an armed guard dragging her out!"

Miliardo sighed and looked at his aide. Benton was thoroughly disgusted. "You are quite right. You may go for the evening, lieutenant."

The other man did not go. "If I might be permitted to speak my mind…"

"No," interrupted his commander. "You may not."

Benton spun on his heel and walked stiffly away. Miliardo shook his head and entered his personal apartments. There was a leather jacket tossed over a chair and a wide hat perched on an expensive rare vase. He passed through the salon and almost tripped over shiny black boots lying in the hall on the way to his bedroom.

He feared what he would find inside and paused before pushing open the door. His eyes went to the bed first. The velvet covering was rumpled, the pillows depressed and two glasses of wine, one filled, one empty sat on a table beside the bed. Miliardo let go of the breath he had been holding until he saw a blouse and a skirt lying on the floor. Where was she and did he really want to find her?

There were several rooms off his bedroom, and the last one he tried was his private exercise room. On the floor he saw a long staff. He picked it up as he pushed open the door to an indoor pool. The lights were dim, and he saw lit candles floating in the water. Slicing through the aqua water toward him was the object of his search. His eyes widened as he watched her pale body approach. She was naked!

When she burst from the water at the edge of the pool, he stumbled back, averting his eyes.

"Miliardo! Where have you been? I've been so bored waiting for you."

A sweat broke out over his brow. Miliardo loosened his shirt and tie, then spun away to find the lights. "We did not have plans," he reminded her. When the pool area was lit, he glanced quickly at her and was relieved to see that she was wearing a bikini that matched the color of her skin.

"That is a dirty trick," he muttered.

She laughed softly as she hung on the edge of the pool and kicked her legs out behind her. "Don't you like it, my little prince?"

He ignored her as he removed his heavily decorated ceremonial jacket. "Roxie, you shouldn't be here. It is very improper."

"Not to mention deliciously scandalous." She floated on her back. "Join me, loverboy. The pool is nicely heated."

The computer built into the wall was on, so Miliardo crossed to it and flipped down the keyboard. "I don't have my bathing suit."

"You don't need one," laughed Roxie as she swam to the side of the room where he was checking his messages. "There is something from Nelson," she told him even before he keyed in the code to retrieve it.

Miliardo leaned against the wall as he listened to Nelson's report, then he commented aloud, "Three dozen Taurus suits have been captured by the Coalition."

He heard her get out of the pool and resisted the strong urge to look at her. Her footsteps sloshed through water along the edge of the pool as she approached, then he heard the clink of ice in a glass. By the time he was able to direct his attention back to the screen, Roxie was at his side pressing a glass of whisky into his hand.

Leaning her back against the wall, she watched him take a drink. Her wig was gone, and her bleached hair was plastered back accenting the beautiful lines of her face. She had tied a towel at her waist to cover her almost indecent bottom.

"Did you see the report?"

Nodding, she reached out to unbutton the top few buttons of his shirt. "His report is sadly incomplete."

"I thought so also." Roxie was tugging the shirt from his breeches. "What are you doing?"

"Making you more comfortable." She moved between him and the screen. "I missed you."

Despite his annoyance over Nelson's report, he smiled and pulled her into his arms. "I thought about you during that deadly dull banquet."

She was tangling the hair at the back of his neck between her fingers. "Next time you can take Roxie Rivera with you."

Miliardo laughed and leaned into her. "I can imagine what the nobility would think of you in their midst. The Assembly would call a special session and I'd be out of a job before morning."

A beeping from the computer indicated an incoming call. Roxie turned in his arms so that the caller would see them together.

"Roxana Rivera! I wasn't expecting to see you there at this time of the night." Sally Po was smiling.

"I actually thought the diligent, loyal Benton was going to shoot me." Roxie laughed.

"I was in the city and tried to get tickets to your play, but the performance was sold out."

Roxie sighed. "My understudy played the role tonight. I stubbed my toe this afternoon and the director hustled me to the door, telling me to take some time off to heal."

Sally shook with laughter. "I think your career as an actress is in jeopardy."

"I have something to fall back on." She leaned against Miliardo, then brushed against him as she moved away, the towel dropping at his feet. He turned to watch her saunter to the pool, shocked by how little her swimsuit covered, but more so by the tattoo on her left buttock, a bolt of lightening.

"Zechs, put your tongue back in your mouth," admonished Sally playfully.

He snapped his eyes back to the screen, but he feared he wouldn't be able to concentrate what she had to report. "What is it?"

"I'm sure you are aware of what transpired at the academy today."

"How could I not? Relena did not attend the banquet with me because she was too distraught." His sister could be very annoying.

"The school was shut down for the afternoon, so the boys spent that time running diagnostics on their gundams. Gundams 02, 03 and 04 detected scans of their systems although 02 was able to jam it before Shadowhawk discovered anything significant about its system."

Miliardo leaned a hand against the wall. "Shadowhawk sent the information via sub-space communications to an indeterminate point, according to Nelson."

Sally frowned. "The Coalition. But I am surprised Nelson would not be able to pinpoint its location."

Miliardo sipped from his drink. He could hear Roxie splashing in the water. "If there is any trouble with the Shadowhawk, do not send out 03 and 04. I assume 02 is still under repairs."

"Duo was very busy this afternoon. He helped Heero download information from Deathscythe's scan of the Shadowhawk, and what little he did learn he uploaded to both 01 and 05. Shadowhawk seems to have a disrupter similar to the Deathscythe. Heero is making modifications to Wing gundam 01 to offset it."

"Keep me informed." Miliardo ended the communication and drained his glass. Setting it aside, he picked up the staff he had entered the room with and walked to the edge of the pool.

Roxie swam to the edge. "What are you going to do with that big stick, Miliardo Peacecraft?"

"Why don't you come out of the water and find out?" He chuckled as he turned and headed toward the exercise room.

"I like the sound of that!"

When she entered the exercise room, he tossed the staff to her and took up another.

She smiled as she caught it in one hand and deftly spun it. "Oh, Miliardo, you are a naughty boy! Are you going to attack me with that stick of yours?"

"You would love it if I did."

"You know you want to!"

When he did attack, she deflected his blow and countered. He barely managed to avoid contact.

"My, my, little prince, you are getting soft!" She swung the staff and he jumped back.

He swung. She leapt over the staff and struck back, hitting him in the backside and sending him sprawling to the floor. Rolling, he threw up the staff to deflect another strike. She was laughing as he jumped to his feet.

"You think you're going to beat me my lightening baronet?" he taunted.

"You like that?" As he suspected she might, she turned to present him with the tattoo. The surprised look on her face when he whacked it with his staff made him laugh.

"You're going to regret that!" Now she was angry and attacked him, but after a prolonged battle, he managed to knock her back and she stumbled to fall flat on the mat.

Miliardo straddled her although she still held the staff defensively between them. "I think _you_ have gotten soft, Roxie Rivera."

She grinned up at him. "Who says I don't want to be here, just as we are?" She jerked up her arms and the movement of her swimsuit top gave him a view that disoriented him.

Twisting the staff, she jerked it apart in the middle and moved so fast that he had no time to react. There was a buzzing in his head and he could hear laughter as if from far away as he fell like a downed tree to the mat.

"You men are all alike!" She pushed her swimsuit top back in place, and tossing aside her reconnected staff, she disappeared from his blurry line of vision. He heard her dive into the water a moment later.

What a woman! he thought, as he tasted blood in his mouth from a cut at the corner. She could and would use every dirty trick in her arsenal. It was a damn good thing she wasn't his enemy.

Standing, he pulled off his shirt, dabbed at the cut on his lip, then tossed it aside. He pulled off his boots and socks on the way to the pool, and he paused when he saw her swimsuit on the tiled floor. He stared at it for moment, then switched off the lights so that only the candles on the water and the eerie glow of the computer screen lighted the room. 

Then he began to unbuckle his belt.

**********

Trynity thought the shopping nightmare would never end. When they finally returned home, she feared the boys might question them on their purchases, but they were absent the entire evening. Even Sally was preoccupied. To relieve her boredom, Trynity went to the science lab where she helped run a few experiments. The work was a welcome distraction from thinking about her dilemma. There was very little time left before the Coalition expected her report. And Trynity was anxious to engage the last two gundams as well. Her gundam grew stronger with each fight after incorporating the information received in its own systems, so Shadowhawk needed the information as much as the Coalition. 

When the scientists left for the night, Trynity returned to the residence. As she passed by the salon she heard Sally Po's voice, and Trynity caught only a phrase. "…making modifications to Wing gundam 01 to offset it." 

Trynity almost stopped walking to hear more, but the call ended with Prince Miliardo ordering her to keep him informed. Apparently Sally Po did more than wait at the residence for calls from school! When Trynity reached her room, she put on her dark pants and tee shirt. She sat on her bed cross-legged and pulled her portable computer on her lap.

It was amazingly simple to break into the defense system of the Cinq Kingdom. She found a folder for Sally Po and read information any citizen would be able to uncover. She had been a medical officer for the Alliance, a resistance fighter to Oz. A prominent officer in the Preventer corps, she had been most recently assigned to Seaside Laboratory where her duties included the guardianship of the prince's wards. 

Another folder was attached to Sally Po's. Trynity opened it and read a public relations blurb about the five young men from the colonies who had lost everything and who symbolized the future of the Cinq Kingdom so torn by war. That sentimental nonsense made her stomach churn. If they symbolized hope, the Cinq Kingdom was doomed. Five more folders were attached. Trynity guessed they contained information about her fellow orphans. She tried to open one and was blocked by password security. She tried many different ways to open each one of the five files, but to preserve their privacy, she assumed, they had been locked tight. She thought it notable that her own file had not been added to the list of Sally Po's charges. She managed to find it attached to a file about her father. As she read the information about Dr. Ivan Stryfe she didn't learn anything she didn't already know. Her own file had been easy to access, and it did contain information about her stay at Seaside Laboratory.

Trynity returned to the defensive department's files, and after failing to find one shred of information about the gundams, she determined the location of the nearest mobile suit base and flipped off the computer. It was time to extend an invitation! After pulling on her jacket, jerking up her sleeves and slipping on her leather gloves, she opened the window and dropped to the beach below.

She felt as if she were coming home as she settled into the seat in the cockpit. All systems were at optimum levels, so she lifted off and waited until she was over the sea to raise the cloak. Shadowhawk warned her that they were being tracked by radar, but that suited her purpose. On the way to the mobile suit base, she disabled four Aries suits and a ship that launched missiles at the gundam. She wasn't surprised to find an army waiting for her upon arrival. Her objective was not these weak suits, so she toyed with them, using evasive tactics, laughing when two of them shot each other out of the sky when she darted from their line of fire. This was child's play!

The gundam she hunted appeared over the horizon, and as she received warnings, Trynity barely had enough time to shift to the side to avoid a deadly laser blast. As the pulsing light flashed past her, Trynity quickly activated the scan, and seeing one performed on her own gundam, she scrambled it, then spun to shoot what her father had called "heaven's tears", plasma blasts that exploded around the attacking gundam. Trynity took the opportunity to leave, her mission fulfilled. She was already transmitting the information to the Coalition when she heard the cool, arrogant voice of the pilot of gundam 05.

"So you are only a cowardly spy! You don't have the courage to fight one who may be your equal!"

Although she knew she was finished here, the pilot's attitude was so much like the smug Chang Wufei that Trynity could not resist returning to fight.

Loading the bow, she swung around and fired. The other gundam swept aside the arrow with its long shaft, but she followed up so quickly with the flail that it hit her opponent on a shoulder. The gundam fell back with the impact, but suddenly the other arm shot out and its claw hand attached to the shoulder of the Shadowhawk.

Trynity tried to swipe it off, hearing the arrogant laughter of the other pilot, and infuriated, she swung the flail again, wrapping it around the arm. They struggled for the longest moment in her life before Shadowhawk broke free. The flail released and she swung it again, pounding back the gundam far enough so that she could reload the bow. He shot his blasting gun, and Shadowhawk deflected it with its shields, scattering rays to hit Aries that were suddenly attacking from all sides.

A communication appeared on her screen. "Pilot of the gundam Shadowhawk, this is Prince Miliardo Peacecraft of the Cinq Kingdom. Surrender yourself and your gundam. You cannot escape."

Fire shot from the dragonhead claw of Gundam 05, but having anticipated the attack, Shadowhawk threw up a winged shield again, and Trynity swung the flail, landing yet another blow.

Her shields flew back to form wings, spreading out behind. "You cannot trap this hawk!" she proclaimed, then soared high, chased by the gundam. Just before she reached the atmosphere, Trynity quickly stopped and spun to scatter heaven's tears, stunning it. She swung the flail, and it buckled in the middle, so she kicked it and watched as it tumbled back.

She laughed as it spiraled downwards out of control, knocking into Aires suits in pursuit. On her radar she detected Taurus suits approaching from space, so she soared away through the atmosphere, and when she was out of visual contact, she engaged the cloak.

When she returned to the rocky resting place for her Shadowhawk, she found that there was damage to the shoulder that had been grasped by gundam 05. Although she knew she could hand it, she would need days to repair it. She wasn't sure how many days her father had before the Coalition commander lost his patience. 


	8. Interrogation of Miss Stryfe

****

Royal Academy

"That woman was sitting at the table this morning when I came to breakfast!" Relena Peacecraft raised her bow and let an arrow loose. It dropped to her feet harmlessly.

Trynity could barely keep her eyes open, and now she found herself grouped with these useless girls in archery class. This was absolutely no challenge!

"What is she like?" asked Catherine. She aimed her bow at the target, then moved it until Heero Yuy was in her sights. Trynity's amusement was spoiled when Catherine chose to shoot at the target instead. Heero looked relieved.

"She is a low-life tramp!" Relena picked up the arrow at her feet.

"His Excellency seems to like her," remarked the sly Dorothy. 

"Who would have thought he would want such a woman after Noin." Hilde was tightening her bowstring.

Relena shot her arrow, seemingly oblivious to the fact it buried into a target further down where Trowa had been removing arrows. He turned quickly to see where it had come from. "There is only one thing a man would want from her!"

No one responded to that statement.

Sighing, Trynity stepped forward, raised her bow and fired. The arrow hit dead center.

"That was a lucky shot, Miss Stryfe!" Hilde shoved her aside. She gave Trynity an assessing look before she shot her arrow. At least it hit the correct target. Barely. Hilde frowned. Trynity said nothing.

"My brother came to breakfast late this morning, and they did not say one word to each other as they ate." Relena laughed spitefully. "I hoped he has tired of his peroxide tart!" She shot another arrow. It flew erratically until it buried into the dirt just a step in front of Trowa. Trynity almost laughed at the expression on his face.

"Then," continued Relena, "he told her to be ready to accompany him to the mobile suit base in Dover."

Trynity tried not to appear too interested. "I heard on the news this morning that there had been an industrial accident."

The girls looked at her in silence, and Trynity wondered if she had grown another head. Then without responding, they turned their attention to each other again.

"I think that wench was angry at my brother." Relena fired again, and Trynity watched Trowa dive just in time to avoid an arrow in the heart. "Miliardo spent most of the night dealing with the problem at the base."

"Poor Roxie," commented Catherine. She fired an arrow that just missed Heero.

Relena looked at her friend.

Catherine smiled.

"Well," said Relena as she raised her bow. "I won't be seeing either of them for awhile." Her arrow stabbed into a tree behind Trowa.

"Too bad," commented Catherine. She took aim at a fleeing Heero, and Trynity watched with macabre fascination as the arrow flew toward him. A book came between the arrow and Heero Yuy.

Duo retrieved his physics book.

Trowa threw himself behind a target, and Heero was crawling towards the tree.

Relena glared at Catherine. "Did you do that on purpose?"

Catherine smiled. "No!"

"Oh!" Relena started prattling about the dance.

Trynity was walking away from the moronic discussion when she heard Wufei's voice. 

"What can you expect from a woman?"

Spinning on her heel, Trynity walked towards him. The contempt she felt was clear in her eyes. Duo dropped his physics book and hurried to get between them.

"Trynity, I'd like to walk you to class."

She put her hand on his shoulder and shoved him away with surprising strength. Duo stumbled to regain his balance. Note to self; don't mess with Trynity Stryfe! Wufei was on his own.

Trynity and Wufei stared at each other nose to nose for a moment before she spun and fired two quick arrows at the target behind which Trowa was hiding. Trowa shouted something that made the teacher reprimand his language.

Wufei copied her and his arrows landed neatly beside hers. He smirked at Trynity. Duo saw the fire in her eyes.

"Move the target back!" she ordered.

Trowa dragged the target further away, no doubt to a distance he considered safe. Duo certainly wouldn't be able to launch an arrow that far. He could barely see the center. 

"You go first," Trynity ordered Wufei.

"You!" Wufei snapped. Duo detected reluctance in his voice. If Trynity knew how angry Wufei had been last night after returning from his defeat against the Shadowhawk, she wouldn't be taunting him now. Chang Wufei was looking for revenge in any form.

"There is one way to settle this!"

They glared at each other as their hands moved.

"Paper beats rock," Trynity informed Wufei.

Duo stifled a chuckle as Wufei turned to the target. He nocked the arrow and pulled back the string. The bow was bending in his strong grasp, the string was taut with incredible tension, and sweat broke out over Wufei's forehead. Trynity stood watching with a faint smile although Duo seriously doubted she had the strength to send an arrow that distance. Wufei squinted at the target, and with a shout of triumph, he let loose the arrow.

They all watched as it began a straight and true path to the center of the target. Duo was so amazed he barely heard the sharp twang beside him. Wufei'' arrow never reached the center of the target. Another arrow uppercut it, sending it lower where it bounced harmlessly off an outer ring and fell to the ground as the other arrow buried itself into the dead center up to the flight.

Heero and Quatre joined them as Duo and Wufei turned to look at Trynity.

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" asked Quatre with amazement.

"My father," she told them. "It was a hobby of his." She tossed her bow to Wufei. "Feel free to practice further. I am done here."

As she walked away, Heero remarked, "Miss Stryfe: three, Wufei: two."

Wufei glared at him.

Trowa joined them after having destroyed the target by digging out Trynity's arrow. He presented it to Wufei. "A little souvenir!"

Wufei seized the arrow, snapped it in half and tossed it to the ground, then he looked at Duo. "Do you know what this means?"

"That you were beaten by a girl-woman?" 

The others laughed until Wufei hissed, "Stryfe built that gundam!"

They fell silent and all turned to watch Trynity's stiffly departing figure.

"That witch knows something!" Wufei walked away.

"He's right," said Heero. "It is no coincidence that Stryfe was an archer as well as the Shadowhawk."

Duo couldn't believe Trynity would have anything to do with her father's work and said so.

"There is one way to find out," said Quatre. "You have to get it out of her."

"How? She is tight as a clam!"

"She likes you," stated Trowa. "I've seen the way she looks at you."

"You must remind her of her father," added Heero. "He was well-known for his laboratory pranks. Dr. J told me he was a lot like you, Duo Maxwell."

Duo was sickened by the idea of spying on Trynity. "I can't do it!"

Quatre put a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "You must, Duo, for all of us."

Before he could respond, Relena came to claim Heero, and Catherine mothered Trowa as they walked away from the archery range. 

Dorothy and Hilde jostled each other for the right to walk with Quatre, but he laughed and put one arm around Hilde and one around Dorothy.

"Girls, no need to fight! There is enough of Quatre Raberba Winner to please you both!"

Duo doubted that.

Trynity was already gone, and as Duo walked alone, he wondered what it would be like to walk with her. An image came to his mind of him clinging to her like Relena to Heero. He shuddered.

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, probably because no one wanted to risk losing Sally Po's good will. The limousine ride home was painfully silent at first. Wufei glared at Trynity. Trowa, Heero and Quatre sent Duo meaningful looks. Duo wondered what Trynity would do if he tried to hold her hand. Did she think it odd that they sat on a seat alone together as the other four crowded on the seat across? They looked like spectators at a zoo waiting to watch the monkeys…

"What are you looking at?" snapped Trynity.

"I haven't decided what you are," responded Wufei snidely. "It's becoming obvious to me that you aren't a woman!"

Quatre poked Wufei.

Duo glanced at Trynity. She was looking out the window and he sensed that Wufei's comment had hurt her. He certainly wanted to wipe that satisfied smirk off his face. Ignoring the others, he slid closer to Trynity on the seat.

"Don't listen to him," he said softly, leaning toward her.

Trynity turned her head, put out a finger and poked him so hard between the ribs that he jumped back and immediately began to rub his stinging wound.

"Force field," muttered Heero.

Trowa snickered lewdly. "Difficult to penetrate."

They laughed suggestively.

Their comments were the last straw. Duo launched himself across the limo, landing a punch on Trowa's jaw. Trowa struck back, but Duo ducked and Quatre took it in the nose. Wufei was laughing, a sound that was cut short by a yelp of pain. Duo looked and saw that Trynity had seized his ponytail and was smacking his head into the window. Duo's cheer ended when Heero socked him in the eye.

The driver was shouting at them to settle down, but the fight raged on, causing him to weave around the road until he finally closed the back from the front. When he slammed on the brakes several minutes later and jerked open the door, Duo tumbled out, Quatre's hands around his neck swearing about his rude, insensitive treatment of Hilde.

Sally Po was standing above them, her arms crossed over her chest. "I knew it," she said calmly as Heero and Trowa stumbled from the car bruised the bloodied. Wufei was jettisoned, followed by Trynity who stepped out as calmly as a queen although her glasses were bent and crooked, her school jacket torn, and a welt was forming on her cheek. Wufei's eye was swollen and his nose and swelling lip were bleeding.

"I'd call it a draw," whispered Trowa.

"Agreed," returned Heero.

Sally glared them into silence. "An entire day without a call from the academy is a first! I knew it was too good to last!" She stared at them silently for a few minutes, then said, "Do you need to be sent to and from school in separate cars? Get inside and clean up! Trynity, get some ice on that cheek. Who hit Trynity?"

There was no response. Duo glared at Wufei. Trynity walked past Sally and said, "I got hurt when the car stopped. I must have bumped my face." Then she went inside.

Sally shrugged and followed. Duo waited until Wufei was even with him, then tossing a look over his shoulder to see that Sally was gone, he quickly turned to bury his fist in Wufei's gut. When he doubled over coughing, Duo shoved him down to the ground, then quickly moved past Quatre. As he went to his room, Duo heard Sally scolding Quatre when she discovered the writhing Wufei. 

That felt good, thought Duo. Very good indeed.

They kept to themselves for the remainder of the afternoon. One by one they disappeared to meet in the secret gundam hanger beneath the Seaside Lab. For a couple of hours they completely ignored each other. But soon enough Quatre drifted to Trowa, and those to found Heero. Duo stubbornly remained with Sam buried deep in Deathscythe's innards replacing cables. He didn't realize how distracted he was until the technician asked if he really wanted to replace the same cable for the fifth time.

Swearing, Duo emerged from his gundam and found Quatre, Trowa, Heero and Wufei waiting for him.

"What do you want?" Duo's eye was throbbing. He knew he looked as bad as the others with bruises and swellings, cuts drying into scabs. Imagining how the girls would view them only days before the Stardust Ball almost made him laugh.

"I believe you agreed to find out what Miss Stryfe knows," said Wufei.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Wufei clenched his teeth and balled his hands into fists. Duo reached into his deep pocket to curl his fingers around a wrench.

Quatre stepped between them. "Enough! Let's just forget what happened in the car!"

"Yes," agreed Trowa, rubbing his jaw. He turned to Duo. "I am sorry I offended Trynity."

"I am sorry also," stated Heero.

"And if you took offense to anything I may have said about Hilde…"

"I am not sorry," stated Wufei.

Quatre ignored him although Duo was thinking how pleasurable it would be to shove his wrench… "Duo, please talk to Trynity. She may know something important without even realizing it."

"I won't spy on her!"

"Then it is up to us," stated Heero.

They drew into a circle from which Duo and Wufei stood aside. Several games of rock, paper, scissors later, the order was determined: Trowa, Heero, then Quatre.

Duo shook his head and returned to Deathscythe. His ribs still hurt where Trynity had poked him. She could definitely take care of herself.

***********

The peace was rather comforting with the boys either banished to their rooms or scattered to the far corners of the residence. Trynity had no intention of seeking a single one of them. She took her schoolwork into the recreation room where she sat on a futon near the window through which she could look up at the stars. Looking into the black, white dotted void reminded her of home.

Soon enough the painful throbbing of the blow to her cheek distracted her. It was a painful, mocking reminder of her underestimation of Chang Wufei. Somehow the fact that he hit her with his fist made her respect him more as an opponent. But she was warned. Wufei did not consider her a weakly woman adversary. She liked it that way.

Thinking of the fight made her smile as she remembered Duo trying to take on Heero, Trowa and Quatre. When Wufei had been laughing at him, Trynity could not sit by without acting. The surprise in his eyes would be a cherished memory. She wasn't exactly sure what had made Duo explode, but all the same, she rather enjoyed the whole experience. It had been every bit as pleasurable as defeating gundam 05.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Trowa walked in. He barely glanced at her as he crossed the room and took up a flute. He played a melody that she considered annoyingly sappy, completely destroying her mood. She tried to ignore him by concentrating on the physics assignment, but it was too easy and a quick consultation of the copyright confirmed her theory that Dr. Plume was not up to date with the latest advances in physics. Apparently it was easier to use the same lectures and problems year after year.

Trowa was moving closer, the music louder.

Trynity turned to look at him.

He stopped playing and for reasons known only to Trowa, he came around to sit with her. For several moments he stared down at his flute although Trynity stared at him, hoping to get some insight into his behavior.

Trowa sighed. He was going to speak!

Trynity waited.

Nothing.

She let out a breath.

Trowa looked at her then slowly raised his eyes to her face.

Trynity raised her brows to prompt him.

He licked his lips as if preparing to speak.

Trynity leaned toward him to hear.

He said nothing.

She sat back.

Trowa turned to face her, putting an arm on the back of the futon. The corner of his mouth twitched. His lips parted.

Trynity strained to hear.

Not a single sound came out of the void.

If he expected her to speak first, he could wait until hell froze over. She looked him in the one eye she could see.

Trowa took a deep breath.

Then he paused.

**********

Duo was trying to concentrate on the diagnostic screen running data past his eyes when Trowa stepped out of the elevator. The others crowded around him.

"She won't speak! I tried everything!"

Heero and Quatre looked at each other. "It's up to us."

"We are doomed," remarked Wufei as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Don't make her suspicious," Quatre warned Heero. "If she really is hiding something, she will become that much more stubborn."

Heero looked him in the eye. "Mission accepted."

**********

Heero walked into the recreation room. Trynity looked up from her book as he sat in the spot vacated by Trowa. She did know that Heero Yuy was capable of speech, so she waited. 

He looked at her, then her book, then said, "So that is how you do so well at school!"

"You would be amazed at how useful books can be!" Trynity half turned away from him, hoping to make it clear that she wasn't open to conversation, especially not with a Neanderthal like Heero Yuy.

She could hear his fingers drumming, then he stood. Hope that he was leaving fled when she heard the opening theme to his insipid video game. Turning, she saw him slip a visor over his head and position it to his eyes before taking up a controller. He played with vicious enthusiasm for a moment, his finger rapidly deploying the firing button until finally he burst into maniacal laughter and declared in a cold, ominous tone, "Mission accomplished."

He slipped off the visor. Trynity raised her brows. "I take it you, Heero Yuy, have saved all mankind."

"No. I annihilated the forces from Planet Zorbon," he said proudly.

"And with such minimal effort!" She was surprised his thumb wasn't bleeding.

Heero frowned as her sarcasm dripped on him. "It's not as easy as you think."

"Maybe not for you."

Heero could not resist a challenge. He left the futon to find another visor. "Here. Put this on. We will battle each other for control of Zorbon space."

Trynity set aside her book and placed the visor over her eyes. Heero pressed some buttons and suddenly Trynity found herself looking out the window of a cockpit. Heero placed a controller in her hands and after a moment of disorientation, she was ready to battle Heero Yuy for domination of the Zorbon system in outer space.

At first she took several hits from Heero and was annoyed to hear him laugh. So she called forth reinforcements from her home planet. While Heero battled her forces, Trynity stayed behind the lines learning to master the mobile suit. As Heero sliced her mobile troops with laser sword and shot powerful beams from a rifle to disintegrate them, he began to get carried away. Twice she shoved him away from her side of the futon when he jostled her.

Finally she was forced to meet him because he had destroyed her army.

"Do you surrender, Zorbon knight?" he asked aloud.

What a buffoon! Trynity had no intention of qualifying his lunacy with a response. She launched missiles at his mobile suit.

"So it's a fight you want!" he all but shouted.

Trynity doubted a fight with him would be a challenge, so she slouched on the futon and put her feet up.

"Take this!" His suit attacked with the sword and she threw up a shield. He attacked again and she drew her sword.

Heero laughed a low and menacing sound. "So you think you are my equal?"

Trynity pitied anyone who would stoop so low as to consider himself or herself his equal. They parried for several minutes, 

Heero grunted with each blow. Finally she could take no more. Heero was working up a sweat and was almost foaming at the mouth. She activated boosters and jettisoned away.

Heero burst into laughter. "Now you shall die!" He launched a super nova bomb that brightened the screen. Trynity knew the object was to make her close her eyes, so she kept them open. As her monitors flashed warnings, she flew her suit to the far side of a gundanium-loaded meteor where she rode out the blast.

"Mission complete," stated Heero with finality.

"Not quite." She flew out from behind the meteor and launched a single missile into the head of his suit. It exploded and pieces of the mobile suit scattered to the far corners of the Zorbon system.

Trynity slipped off the visor and tossed it on Heero's lap. She yawned. "Now the mission is complete."

Heero tore off his own visor and jumped to his feet. He was wild-eyed, almost frightening. If he could have slammed the elevator door as he left, he would have. The visors remained behind, broken on the floor.

Trynity turned her attention back to her book.

And she smiled.

**********

Heero's shout of rage made Duo bump his head. He peeked out of the Deathscythe to see his friend pacing.

"She is too clever! Far too clever!" He ran his hands through his hair, and he clenched his fists. "Damn! Why didn't I realize that meteor contained gundanium?"

Snickering, Duo slid back inside his gundam. The Zorbon knight must have been triumphant for once.

**********

When the door of the elevator slid open again, Trynity half stood to leave, but Quatre walked in carrying a red rose. Now what? Was this some ridiculous plan to get her forgiveness for that unpleasant ride home from the academy?

Quatre was smiling at her, and she was unable to escape as he took her hand and drew her back onto the futon with him.

"Trynity, I must apologize for our behavior in the car." His eyes were sincere, but his soft, lilting voice was grating on her nerves.

She took the flower he offered. "You are forgiven." Now go away! Standing she gave him a half smile and tried to leave.

Quatre snatched her hand and pulled her back down. "Don't be in such a hurry to go. You have been here for three weeks and I hardly know you."

She raised her brows as she stared at him unblinking. You twit, she told him with her eyes.

"I never realized how lovely your eyes are. They are like a green and gold fire. And your lashes are long and delicate…delicate like…like a butterfly's wings." Quatre smiled at his own cleverness, then gazed at her dreamily although she was openly glaring at him.

"Your hair is as beautiful as…as a sunset." He was leaning toward her, his gaze intensifying. "And your lips are like…like cupid's bow." His eyes closed, his lips puckered and he leaned toward her.

Trynity put her physics book between them and she heard a smacking sound as he kissed it. Disgusted, she dug her knuckle between his ribs, and he yelped with pain, jumping back. 

Before he left, he snatched the rose, then departed in the elevator rubbing his ribs.

Trynity decided to leave before she was paid another visit. There was too much work to do on the Shadowhawk and too little time before the Coalition expected her report on Wing Gundam Zero.

**********

"She attacked me!" Quatre whined. He raised his shirt to display his wound. Duo felt an answering throb from a similar bruise on his own rib where Trynity had poked him in the car. What did Quatre do to deserve his?

"Enough of this foolishness!" declared Wufei as he strode to the elevator. "When I finish with her, she will speak and she will not stop until I find out what I want to know!"

Duo cut him off at the elevator. "You had better stay here. I wouldn't want you to get hurt." Before Wufei could retort, Duo took the wrench from his pocket. "Now, you wouldn't want this to become a permanent part of your anatomy, would you? I can think of a darn good place to put it!"

Quatre came between them. "There is no need for this!" He looked at Duo. "You are the only one who can communicate with that…that…"

"All right!" Duo tossed the wrench aside, then wiping his hands on his black pants, he pressed the button for the elevator. But he had no intention of needling information out of Trynity. Besides, he was sure she wouldn't know anything.

Trynity wasn't in the recreation room, nor was she in the first level science labs. As he took the elevator to the fourth level, he regretted the mishap in the lab when he was looking for Trynity, but it looked like the technicians had the fire under control before he left.

Duo didn't know what he was going to say to Trynity. When he knocked on the door to her room, there was no answer, so he shrugged and was about to leave but he heard a noise inside. He tried the door, found that it was locked electronically. After assuring himself that Sally wasn't around, he flipped off the plate over the control panel and hot-wired the lock. The door clicked open and he stepped in to see Trynity disappear through the window.

His heart seemed to stop in his chest, and Duo ran to the window expecting to see her lying in a bloody heap on the beach. But Trynity stood the many feet blow wiping sand off her pants.

"Hey! Are you crazy? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Trynity looked up at him. "What are you doing in my room? What would Miss Sally say?"

Duo swung his legs over the window ledge. "Here goes nothing!" He regretted jumping even before he hit the ground. His knees buckled and his face buried in the sand.

"At my feet again, Mr. Maxwell?"

Duo spit sand out of his mouth and grinned up at her. Trynity smiled back at him, then reached out a hand which he took and was surprised again by the strength she used to pull him to his feet. And how the hell did she land so gracefully like a cat? Who the hell cared when she smiled like that?

"What are you doing jumping out of your window?" he asked.

"It is the fastest way to the ground," she answered.

Duo should have expected such a direct answer. "I like to take the long way." He spit some sand out of his mouth.

Trynity kicked off her shoes and started to walk along the water's edge. "So, are you here to apologize too?"

"For my friends. They aren't very sensitive."

"Neither are you," she pointed out.

He was glad it was dark enough that she couldn't see his burning cheeks. He shouldn't have let the others goad him into acting in the car. "Where did you learn that poking move?"

"My father. Before the accident there were many men at the lab, including a couple of unruly pilots. He thought I should learn some defensive tactics. If you wish, I can demonstrate the first move he taught me. It can be quite debilitating to those with the Y chromosome. Lars Nelson can attest to its effectiveness."

Duo shuddered as he imagined it and pitied the poor pilot. Note to self: if a jab in the ribs made him ache, he would never walk again after defensive move number one. "Were you in your father's laboratory often?"

Shrugging, she stopped to dig her toes in the wet sand. "There is no sand on the colony. My playgrounds were scraps of gundanium, my toys test tubs and cables. I never really paid attention to what my father had been doing. After the explosion, we were deserted, and my father refused to leave."

"Did he continued to work?" asked Duo, hating himself for doing so.

She did not answer immediately, but when she did speak, he didn't sense any dishonesty. 

"He did work for many months, but then he seemed to realize the futility. We spent more time together after that. In retrospect, I am glad that big machine was destroyed because I think he scarcely noticed me standing in its shadow."

There was no clever, amusing reply he could make. 

"The tide is coming in," she pointed out. "Your boots are getting wet."

"I better get back. I still don't have my poem done for Drivel's class." Duo waited a moment, and when she made no move to leave the water, he asked, "Are you coming?"

Her curls bounced as she shook her head, and she looked up at the sky. Duo followed her gaze and felt a crushing homesickness himself. They were both children of space trapped on Earth.

"I'd like to be alone."

_We could be alone together,_ he thought, but he turned on his heel and reluctantly returned to the gundam hanger. They were waiting for him in a group.

"Well," demanded Wufei.

Duo sighed. "Her father continued research for a while, but he quit."

Each of them stared at him incredulously. "She spoke to you?" asked Quatre, amazed.

"She's lying!" snapped Wufei. "Where is she? I will make her tell the truth."

Quatre stopped him. "She's not going to tell you anything. If she had nothing to say to Duo, then there is nothing to tell."

Duo was disappointed that Wufei relented. He was hoping to see the after effect of defensive movement number one.


	9. Roxie gets a gundam

****

Dover Mobile Suit Base

The landing of the shuttle jarred Roxie awake. Miliardo watched her yawn and stretch. Her black silk dress molded to her body indecently, and when she caught him watching, her bright pink lips parted in a smile and she exaggerated her movements to give him even more to see. Miliardo looked away. The cabin was suddenly too warm.

"Are we here?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

He nodded, then looked back. The dress barely covered what it needed, and she wore shiny black boots to her thighs. When he had seen her choice of attire upon her arrival at the shuttle port he had wanted to order her to wear something, anything, else, but by the mutinous look in her eyes, he knew it would have been a waste of time. Roxie was angry that their evening had been interrupted by the ill-timed attack of the Shadowhawk. Miliardo never did get into the pool with her. She would never forgive the gundam.

The shuttle came to a stop, and they stood. Miliardo crossed to the door with Roxie on his heels, and when the steward appeared, she tossed her fur coat over her shoulder and slipped an arm around his waist. 

"It's ShowTime, loverboy," she whispered in his ear, then nipped his earlobe.

Miliardo glared at her.

The steward opened the door to the flashes of cameras as photographers jostled for position. Miliardo knew the papers would be splashed with pictures of him with Roxie clinging to him like a vine. The critics would dredge up his past in OZ, pointing to his liaison with Roxie Rivera as proof to their claim he was unfit to be crowned king. The stipulation put forth by the elected Assembly that he must wait a probationary period during which he would rule Cinq Kingdom with restrictions on him was insulting. There were parties of total pacifists that preferred waiting for Relena's majority when they could elect her Queen. These same groups used every pretext to justify denying him absolute rule. Their agenda was to keep power in their grasp as long as they could, and Miliardo Peacecraft – Zechs Merquise – was a threat to them. More threat than they realized. He had no intention of letting the dinosaurs from his father's idealistic era guide his rule as they would Relena's.

Then there were the scandal sheets that will have learned from sources close to the prince that there had been an orgy on the flight to the mobile suit complex. Roxie played to that crowd, and in that she should be given credit for her acting. As he answered questions from reporters about the "accident" at Dover Base, she tossed out saucy replies to queries about their relationship as they made their way to the limousine. Roxie knew her role. She was a decoy, and a frighteningly good one. She was beginning to distract him from his own duties.

When they were settled in the limo and on the road to the base, she huddled inside the fur coat. "This dress is too damn light. I am cold!" she complained.

Miliardo noted that she was very tired. She had been at his side the entire night during the crisis.

"I think it was designed to be worn in bed," he remarked with a half-smile.

To his amusement, she blushed and looked down at the lingerie. "Oops! I guess I wasn't paying attention this morning."

Miliardo laughed and couldn't resist pulling her into his arms. "I'll keep you warm."

"I like the sound of that!" She was stretching to kiss him when the car came to a stop. "Damn!"

Miliardo kissed her quickly and had the lipstick dabbed away before the door opened. Lieutenant Benton was waiting with his usual sour disposition upon seeing Roxie. Miliardo stepped out first, then reached in to pull her to his side.

She was wrapped around his arm as the military officers saluted him, and he noticed she was hiding her face in her fur. After introductions, he released her to visit the injured in the military hospital. If anyone could lift the morale of the men, it would be the flamboyant Roxana Rivera wearing sexy lingerie.

Benton was at his side on the way to the conference room to meet with the staff. "Did she have to come?"

"I asked her to accompany me." Miliardo couldn't blame Benton for his intense dislike of his companion. Benton had been trained by Noin at the Lake Victoria base and was probably more loyal to her than to the man he served. Seeing another woman taking what could have been Noin's place in his life was difficult for the lieutenant to swallow.

"Did you get what I asked for?" Miliardo looked at him.

Frowning, Benton withdrew a slender leather box. "These jewels are a bit much for your sister to wear to a school dance, your Excellency," he pointed out, "even if they were your mother's."

Miliardo slipped the case inside his jacket pocket. "They aren't for Relena." The shock on Benton's face was precious. Some day his aide would laugh about it, too.

They had no more time to speak as the other men arrived, and Miliardo spent the afternoon reviewing information from the Shadowhawk attack. The base's defenses were no match for the superior technology of the gundam. Wufei also gave a report via satellite link. Although he was obviously infuriated at his defeat, he was objective enough to point out the strengths of his opponent and the weaknesses of his own attack. Miliardo understood how he felt and commended the young pilot.

Halfway through the meeting, there was an altercation at the door, and Miliardo looked up to see Benton barring Roxie from the room. When Miliardo waved her in, Benton's face became an unbecoming shade of red that darkened when Roxie stood behind Miliardo while his lieutenant was forced to get her a chair. She sat close to him, resting her head on his shoulder, her long, bleached hair flowing over his arm. As the men spoke, she tapped her long, painted fingernails impatiently on the tabletop.

The officers purposely kept their attention on the papers and computer screens before them. There was a tense moment of silence after her arrival, but Miliardo was not going to order Roxie to leave. He wanted her right where she was. They began a discussion on the Shadowhawk's whereabouts, and Roxie's hand moved over his where it rested on his computer keyboard. The screen changed to display pertinent data. Her fingers moved over the keys, and Roxie's half-closed eyes were rapidly taking in the information. Miliardo had difficulty paying attention to his subordinates as she pulled up screen after screen searching the intelligence reports.

The woman draped over him was distracting his men, but it was because she was leaning so close into him that it was improper if not indecent. Even he started to think about things other than the elusive Shadowhawk.

His best officers had no explanation for the Shadowhawk's dramatic disappearances and reappearance. They were truly baffled. But it was with quite obvious relief that they were dismissed with an order to continue their investigation. Even before the last one was out the door, Roxie hopped up on the edge of the table and crossed her legs as she consulted her compact mirror to apply more lipstick.

When the door was closed behind the last one, he turned to her. "Was that necessary? I can imagine what they think we are doing now."

"They couldn't be further from the truth, could they, loverboy?" She turned the computer and keyed in information rapidly, then flipped the screen for him to see. "I have cross-referenced radar and energy sweeps with the appearances of the Shadowhawk."

Miliardo wasn't looking at the screen. Had her legs always been that long? Why hadn't he noticed before? "What did you find?" he asked automatically.

She swiveled to the computer again so that she was half lying on the table. "Energy pulses are recorded corresponding to the appearance of the gundam."

"Interesting." He could almost see that tantalizing tattoo. He wondered what she would do if he got up to lock the door.

"Are you listening to me, Zechs?"

He wondered what he would do. "Of course I am."

She turned back to the screen. Her skirt inched up. "The gundam must be using some sort of device similar to gundam 02's scrambler, that doesn't explain how it could go unseen by the eye."

"Indeed." Miliardo could see the lower fourth of the tattoo. He knew what it looked like, so why did he want to see it now?

"It must be using some type of energy we don't have any knowledge of to mask itself. That is very technologically advanced. Our researchers have only vague theories. There are no records of any significant research in that field." Roxie turned to look at him. Unfortunately he didn't get his eyes off her backside soon enough and he could see that she was furious.

"You haven't heard a word I said!"

"I did." Not all of it, but she would give him a report if he asked. By the look in her eyes, he would have to ask very politely.

He was spared her further anger when the computer indicated an incoming priority call. Miliardo gave her an apologetic smile and flipped the screen to face him so that she was out of the picture.

"Vice Minister Une," he acknowledged when her face appeared on the screen. In the World and Space Alliance, she was his superior, at least until he pulled the Cinq Kingdom away. He glanced at Roxie and caught her sticking out her tongue at the screen.

"Miliardo Peacecraft. I have been anxiously waiting a report from your people about this nasty business at Dover. I am pleased that you have gone there immediately to inspect the damage. I believe six men lost their lives at that explosion."

She was staring at him through her glasses. Miliardo had the unpleasant feeling that she knew about the gundam battle although the space over the Cinq Kingdom was well jammed with radar waves to conceal activities from the Alliance. There were very few people outside his loyal military who knew the location of the five gundams he had been ordered to dismantle. Vice Minister Une was not one of those people.

"The accident was a tragedy," he stated, meeting her gaze.

"See that it doesn't happen again."

Miliardo almost cracked a smile when Roxie made an obscene gesture at the back of the screen.

Lady Une removed her glasses and her expression softened. "I am sorry I haven't spoken to you sooner. My duties are overwhelming. I know there was never anything official between you and Lucrezia Noin, but I did know she was a dear friend. Her death must be difficult for you."

"It has not affected my work," he told her. He didn't look to see Roxie's expression.

"Perhaps you need a break. You should take some time off to let yourself heal." She leaned closer to the screen, and her eyes were intense. "Why don't you accompany me to the Geneva Conference next week-end."

The sultry tone of vice-minister Une's voice made it clear it would not be a political trip. Miliardo dared to glance at Roxie and saw that there were two bright red patches of anger on her cheeks. Her jealousy was quite obvious and quite pleasing to Miliardo.

"The skiing is marvelous this time of year," Vice Minister Une said as she shook out her hair. Miliardo swallowed nervously now. He did not want to offend the vice-minister. Even if he were elected absolute ruler of the Cinq Kingdom, vice-minister Une was still his superior. Miliardo wasn't quite ready to make a total break with his past to take the Cinq Kingdom into the future.

"You are kind to offer…" he began, but she cut him off.

"We are both adults, Miliardo Peacecraft. I have admired you very much, but I stayed in the shadow believing there was some type of relationship between you and Lucrezia Noin. But apparently there was nothing, and now without her nipping at your heels and licking your boots, you are ready for a real woman!"

Roxie shot to her feet, and as a precaution, Miliardo quickly shut off the microphone. "That…that…" she glared at him. "This is all your fault! Nipping at your heels? Licking your boots?" She gave a cry of pure rage, snatched up her fur and marched to the door. She slammed it on her way out.

Miliardo had wanted to reassure her, but with Lady Une watching and waiting for his reply, he could say nothing without giving them away.

He turned the microphone back on. "I am sorry, vice-minister, but duty must keep me in the Cinq Kingdom. My sister's formal ball is next week-end and I promised I would appear."

The vice-minister was clearly disappointed. "Another time, then, Prince Miliardo." She slipped on her glasses. "Remember that the Cinq Kingdom is important to the alliance. We are looking to you to uphold peace with the ideals championed by the Peacecraft family."

Now she leaned forward, her eyes narrowed to slits. "I don't want to hear any more rumors about gundams. Do I make myself clear?"

He used his training as Zechs Merquise now as he met her gaze without blinking. "I shall endeavor to keep such rumors from your ears."

"See that you do." The screen went blank.

So Lady Une was suspicious of his motives. Perhaps her proposition was politically driven. She had a lot of confidence in her allure as a woman to think that would keep him in the Alliance.

Roxie was waiting in the hall surrounded by a group of adoring, ogling young men. While she seemed to have gotten over Lady Une's insult, the sound of her laughter and provocative comments annoyed Miliardo. And he certainly did not like those men staring at her skimpy attire.

"Will you be returning immediately?" Benton was at his heels. "Shall I send for the car?" He was glancing at the scene that disturbed him. In other words, should we get her the hell out of here?

Reluctantly, Miliardo took his eyes from Roxie. "No, I intend to visit the lab to see the progress on rebuilding the Epyon. Have I received a report from Nelson concerning the Taurus suits?"

"No, your Excellency."

Miliardo frowned. Nelson was usually thorough. "Contact him and inform him that I expect a detailed report by tomorrow afternoon or he will not receive a second shipment of Taurus suits."

"Yes, your Excellency."

"Have we uncovered any organized groups of resistance on Earth? Vice Minister Une will expect a report soon. She will likely soon discover the missing Taurus suits."

"There are some groups, but they are very small and spread wide. We have not uncovered any communications between them."

"Any communications with space?"

"No."

"That doesn't mean it isn't happening," mused Miliardo aloud. "If they have the technology to make a gundam disappear before one's eyes, then they can surely mask communications from us."

Benton was watching Roxie with unconcealed loathing.

"Keep me informed." Miliardo left him to approach Roxie. The young men scattered and he realized he was scowling. Roxie answered it with a smile. "You are in rare form." He slipped a possessive arm around her waist and led her to an elevator. 

"I had to have something to amuse myself while you made your plans with Lady Une." She yawned. "So, will you be packing up your skis?"

The elevator opened and they stepped in alone. Miliardo keyed in an access code. "There are a lot of advantages in encouraging her personal interest."

"That sounds like the Zechs Merquise trained by Treize Kushrenada." She leaned against the back of the elevator.

"Miliardo Peacecraft will tell you that there is nothing to gain." He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "You know how I feel."

She sighed and stroked his cheek. "I've never tried to hide my feelings for you. I didn't think I would hear them in such unflattering terms."

He chuckled. "Would you like _me_ to lick _your_ boots?" When she blushed, he drew her into his arms. "I liked you nipping at my heels." She would have retorted, but he cut it off with a kiss.

They were still kissing when the elevator door opened deep in the bowels of the earth.

"Prince Miliardo! A pleasant surprise!"

Reluctantly, he released her and turned to face the only man who would dress as if he were on a Hawaiian beach although he was thousands of feet underground.

"Howard, it is nice to see you." They shook hands. Howard was one of the original gundam scientists, and he had taken on the task of rebuilding the Epyon in the secret lab beneath Dover Base. 

Roxie was hanging on his arm, and the gundam designer now looked at her with raised, grizzled gray brows. "Lucrezia Noin! Raised from the dead and looking better after three weeks in the grave than most people do after a good night's sleep."

"Oh!" She was clearly embarrassed to be recognized. Roxie Rivera didn't mind parading about half-naked, but Noin tugged on Miliardo's jacket until he removed it and slipped it over her shoulders. With a sigh of relief, she jerked off her wig and tossed it over her shoulder. She ran her hands through her bleached hair, then smiled and shook Howard's hand. "Good to see you, too."

Howard grinned. "The pleasure was mine, my dear corpse." He escorted them through the labs explaining modifications he was making to the Epyon. Howard had poured over the information received from gundams 02 and 05. "I shall be happy to receive a report from Wing Zero."

"You think the Shadowhawk will return?" asked Noin as she studied the design plan for the rebuilt Epyon.

"Quite sure! Wing gundam is the only gundam that has not been scanned by the Shadowhawk. The Shadowhawk seems to be stronger after its battles as if it thrives on victory. In actuality, a very intelligent programmer has designed a system to incorporate the information it receives. I am sure it will return for Wing Zero. How is work progressing on the Deathscythe? I sent specifications for stronger jamming signals. Sam should have installed them by now."

Noin looked up from the computer. Miliardo had wandered away to converse with some technicians. She turned to watch workers weld on the giant Epyon. "When will it be complete? I am eager to get it back in the sky."

"Another two weeks, at least. All circuits have been replaced and we have attempted to put in a safety lock against the Shadowhawk's arrow."

She raised a brow. "Correct me if I am wrong, but did you not just tell me, Howard, that the Shadowhawk learns quickly. The energy scans on the arrows differ each time they are used."

"You are not mistaken. A very clever enhancement to an incredible system."

Noin remembered the lack of research she had pointed out to Miliardo earlier when he was busy looking at her backside. "What was Ivan Stryfe working on at colony L10?" 

Noin lost track of Miliardo. All day he was playing the role of playboy prince while she did all the work! Why couldn't he have been doing that last night? He wouldn't have wasted so much time getting in the pool, and when she finally had him where she wanted him, that blasted computer….! Instead of a steamy night in the pool she spent the entire night parked before a computer screen shivering in a damp swimsuit and towel as they monitored the battle in the atmosphere.

"Ivan Stryfe?" Howard chuckled, then guffawed with laughter. "That carrot top could certainly liven up the lab! Not a day went by without something sizzling, crackling or exploding! I wasn't surprised that his project was destroyed in his own lab."

"How did Stryfe get the project in the first place?"

"Don't get me wrong, dearly departed Commander Noin! Stryfe was a brilliant man! I believe he was sent to L10 because his gundam was intended to be the most powerful. Should there have been repercussions, a civilian population could not have been targeted as L10 was a deserted research station."

"Stryfe kept no records," she commented.

"No. He didn't need to, and he refused to file reports. He had a phenomenal mind!" Howard shook his head and chuckled. "Too bad he didn't take things more seriously. Nor did he ever completely think through the consequences of his actions."

"I believe that cost his life," she commented.

Howard sighed. "And his daughter is at Seaside with our young pilots? Is she as entertaining as her father?"

Noin raised a brow. "They could not be less alike."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Miliardo. "Are you done pestering Howard?" he asked with a smile.

Noin frowned. "Someone has to work around here. As usual, it is me."

Howard was chuckling as he walked away, winking at Miliardo. What were they up to? She looked at Miliardo's face as he took her arm and led her after Howard.

"I have a surprise for you," he announced.

"A surprise?"

"I think it is something you have wanted for a long time."

There were many things she had wanted for a long time from Miliardo Peacecraft, but only one came to mind in this lab. She seized his arms in excitement. "You are going to put the zero system back in the Epyon for me."

Miliardo frowned and her excitement diminished. Her hands dropped to her sides. 

"Do I take that as a no?" She wasn't going to bother to hide her bitter disappointment.

"Lucrezia, we have discussed this often enough."

"I am a better pilot!"

"It is too dangerous for you!" He took her arm and led her across the lab to a wall where they were joined again by Howard. He winked at Noin, then took a control device in his hand. After pressing a succession of buttons, the wall began to slide apart. Noin watched as a giant shape was slowly revealed. It towered so high above that she had to bend back to look up. The metal beast stood silently dark, a spear in one hand, a shield blazoned with a lightening bolt in the other.

"My God," she whispered in awe. "It's a gundam."

Miliardo turned her around to face him. "Lucrezia, you know how much I care for you."

"Care? Miliardo! Such a strong term coming from you!"

Howard snickered, then took Noin's arm. "Come along, my lovely cadaver. I shall be showing you just how much Zechs Merquise cares for the late Lucrezia Noin."

"I would prefer him to do so," Miliardo heard her mutter. Then she turned back to him. "You know I love it, you sentimental fool!"

Then Howard and Noin hopped on the cable to carry them up to the entrance of the giant mobile suit. They disappeared inside, and Miliardo expected to hear some enthusiasm, but there was none. He waited. What were they doing?

Suddenly it was raining roses all over him, and he looked up to see Noin.

"Just cleaning up a bit," she called down to him. "Someone left that mess in here."

He threw back his head in laughter.

Noin was laughing as she ducked back inside.

Howard gave her a quick overview of the operation of the gundam, explaining that data received in recent encounters with the Shadowhawk had been programmed into its complex system. The gundam's spear was pointed on both ends, and when activated, could penetrate any metal save gundanium alloy. Upon penetrating, an energy surge would blast apart an opponent. In close battles it could be parted into two, closer ranged weapons with the same capabilities as the full spear, reminding Noin of the trick staff she had used against Miliardo.

The shield contained several small canons that sent lightening like laser strikes zigzagging at the enemy and hidden beneath was a missile-loaded gun.

Noin sat in the cockpit chair and looked around her gundam. She saw something glittering on the control panel, and she looked at Howard with raised brows.

He grinned. "I believe that is a temporary modification made by Prince Miliardo."

Noin smiled and took her attention off it. First the roses, now this. She had a good idea how to thank him and make some pleasant memories for her gundam cockpit.

Howard cleared his throat and she saw him holding a disk. "This is my modification, Commander Noin. This gundam was designed by Zechs Merquise and myself to suit you perfectly. I like to call it the Valkyrie after the fierce maiden warriors sent out by King Odin over the battlefields. It has wings that fold into impenetrable shields in the back, but the Valkyrie has an advantage which I added myself without Prince Miliardo's knowledge."

She had difficulty containing her excitement. "Would this anger him?"

"Without a doubt."

Noin laughed nervously as she stared at the disk.

"I have managed to work out most of the bugs from the Zero system. While it is still very difficult to operate, I have complete faith in you, Lucrezia Noin."

Noin threw her arms around the gray-haired man and kissed his leathery cheeks. "I don't know how to thank you!"

Howard chuckled. "I've never been kissed by a deceased woman before!" But he sobered. "Listen to me, Commander Noin. This disk is for training purposes. When you aren't prancing around half-naked with Prince Miliardo, take some time to acquaint yourself with the gundam. There is a simulation on this disk. I doubt you will be using the Valkryie any time soon, but you should be prepared when you do. The power of this gundanium maiden will surprise you. Now I will let you get acquainted. I was careful to place controls according to recommendations you made in your reports to Oz."

When he was gone, Noin looked on the control panel. The sparkle and glitter came from a diamond and ruby necklace and earrings. Their beauty was breathtaking. Noin knew they were Peacecraft jewels, an heirloom of the royal family. Tears came to her eyes as his gesture reassured her about his feelings. Yet she wanted to hear him speak them.

Noin left the chair and walked to the door, shedding his coat. She could hear snatches of his conversation below, then the entirety as Lieutenant Benton raised his voice in anger.

"How could you bring that…that…bleached tart in here?"

Noin covered her mouth to keep from laughing. Dear Benton! He had been her brightest cadet, and his rise in the ranks of OZ did not surprise her. When Miliardo had made his break, Benton had followed, believing in him, probably because Noin believed in him. His position as Miliardo's personal aide had been earned through his loyalty. Noin had wanted Benton to know she was still alive, but both Miliardo and Sally Po were against it. Benton's outrage against her could not have been pretended. Benton was too loyal to her and could not play the role required.

Laughing softly, she tossed Miliardo's coat over the edge, and it floated until it landed at their feet.

"Your vulgar little joy toy has no place in this laboratory!" she heard Benton shout. How angry he must be to see Roxie Rivera lounging around in the Valkyrie! How naughty Miliardo was to bring her here!

She didn't hear Miliardo's reply. She was laughing to herself as she slipped on the jewels. Noin wondered how far she could push the now insubordinate Lieutenant Benton. Pulling off her ridiculous dress – well Miliardo was right about its intended use – she tossed it out the door, then turned on her communicator. There was a screen behind Miliardo and his face appeared. His eyes widened.

"Noin!" he scolded. By the look on his face, she knew she may have gone too far, but she forged ahead.

"Love the gift, my little prince." She fingered the jewels at her throat. "Come on up and see how I look."

"Noin…" he started to say, but she didn't give him a chance to refuse. She closed communication. Now all she had to do was wait for Miliardo Peacecraft. How many ways could she shock him? Maybe one of the jolts would put some life in him!

The cable lift came to a stop. Already?

She swung around in her chair, wearing only the jewels and a smile only Miliardo Peacecraft would resist.

"Commander Noin!!!!!"

Miliardo's chuckle became outright laughter as the telecom buzzed continuously behind him. Poor Benton!


	10. The death of Master Cuddles

****

Seaside Laboratory/Royal Academy

"This is the last day before your vacation," announced Sally Po to the faces turned to her. "Please, do not force me to come to the academy or you will not be allowed to leave the premises next week."

Trynity glanced at the others. Most were leaving; to what destination she did not know. Trowa, she did know, would be performing with the circus with Catherine. A likely pair of clowns! Trowa was the only clown who could be noted for bringing on clinical depression. Tickets to his show were stamped with a discount coupon for Valium. 

Wherever they were all going, she could see by the anxious looks on their faces that they would be on their best behavior at school today. Trynity had nowhere to go.

The limousine ride was silent until Quatre began to practice reading from the poem he had written for Miss Drivel's literature class. His voice rose and fell as he put intense emotion in his lines about Dorothy and Hilde. A trio of dopes! thought Trynity. What kind of boy adored Dorothy Catalonia? What did she see in Quatre Raberba Winner? Why would Hilde prefer him to Duo Maxwell?

Trynity shifted uncomfortably. Did she really have that thought? She glanced at Duo and saw that he was writing, obviously stealing lines from Quatre. Was he writing about Hilde? She squirmed again, the thought making her stomach roll. Why should that bother her? Perhaps Hilde was getting tired of sharing Quatre and wanted Duo back. Trynity purposely turned away from Duo to look out the window.

Sitting next to her, Wufei hissed, "Stop moving around."

Gritting her teeth, she turned to look at him. Quatre stopped reading. Duo stopped writing. Trowa and Heero leaned closer as if anticipating action. Trynity could feel Wufei tense.

"The driver might stop," remarked Heero with a smirk.

"If we pitch in some money, he won't talk," added Trowa, the expert on silence.

Trynity would be willing to sacrifice her allowance.

Wufei dug into his pocket and withdrew money.

They glared at each other. She despised Chang Wufei. He felt the same for her.

"My money is on Miss Stryfe," stated Heero.

"Hey!" Duo laughed. "I put my money on Sally Po. She will find out about it when the hospital calls to inform her that Wufei has internal injuries."

Wufei started to lunge at Duo, but Quatre threw himself to his knees between them, holding out his arms to keep them apart.

"Stop this! We cannot afford to anger Sally again."

Trynity sat back disappointed. Another time, Chang Wufei, she promised with her eyes.

"Good!" declared Quatre. "Now, we have more important matters to settle. The cook has the night off for some family emergency, and Sally is too busy. One of us has to prepare the meal tonight."

"Any takers?" asked Duo with a chuckle.

"There is only one way to settle this," declared Trowa.

Trynity turned away in disgust. Their answer to everything! Rock, Paper, Scissors. The contest was still going on when the limo arrived at school. Heero, Trowa and Quatre had been eliminated. Now only Wufei and Duo remained. They stared each other in the eye. Trynity looked at the determination on Duo's face. Was he that stupid? She pushed herself from the seat intending to get out, but Wufei seized her arm.

"This is foolish! The kitchen is a woman's place!"

"Good point!" Duo hopped out of the limo.

Trynity jerked her arm from Wufei. Their narrowed eyes clashed.

"What is the matter, Miss Stryfe? Is this a task to which you are unequal?"

Trowa whistled between his teeth.

Heero announced, "Miss Stryfe, three; Chang Wufei; three."

Duo poked his head back in the car. "Need some help getting out, Wufei?"

Trynity pushed past them both. The group was waiting for her response.

"Please, Trynity!" begged Quatre. "If Duo cooks, we will be eating Spaghetti-Os."

"Hey, what's wrong with Chef Boyardee?" Duo was pouting.

Dolts! Did they think cooking was a natural ability for females? But Trynity gave them a half-smile and said, "I would be delighted to prepare you a meal." She had no intention of cooking anything edible for them.

During the morning assembly, Relena Peacecraft gave a long speech about the upcoming Stardust Ball to be held at the Cinq Kingdom Conservatory. Trynity stole a glance at Duo during her speech and was annoyed to see Hilde talking to him in earnest. Whatever they discussed was none of her business. She had more important things to think about than Duo Maxwell's lovelife.

Last night she received a call from the coalition demanding data on Wing Gundam Zero. Trynity spent most of the night in her room trying to access files about the gundam. Not surprisingly, most files had been purged, and only eyewitness accounts remained. She didn't like the idea of entering a battle blind. She would never forget the near terror she felt when that ghastly Deathscythe had charged. Shadowhawk had been blind then, too. Her only advantage would be the cloak in a battle with Wing Zero, but even then she could not count on the sensors in the other gundam to remain oblivious to the energy pulses that rendered it invisible. The bit of conversation she had overheard during Sally Po's phone call also put her on edge. Wing Zero would be prepared for a confrontation.

During Physics class, Trynity sat patiently through part of Dr. Plume's lecture, but when he started droning about outdated theories already proven false; she could not keep silent. She raised her hand and had every intention of correcting his mistakes, but Dr. Plume ignored her. She frowned and kept her hand in the air. Plume looked away. This was not a fight she was going to lose!

Duo felt something hit his head. Turning, he saw Trowa folding another paper airplane, and Heero was designing a catapult with his pencil and a rubberband. They had guts! Old featherbrain didn't put up with any crap in his classroom. So what were they doing? He turned to look at the teacher. Dr. Plume seemed to be lecturing to a far window, his back to Trynity who sat motionless, her hand raised.

"Let the party begin!" Duo murmured. He began to tear small strips of paper which he chewed into finely designed bullets, then hocked a few at Quatre who was putting the finishing touches to his masterpiece poem by drawing and coloring a border on the paper.

Quatre turned to glare at him, glanced at Plume, then turned to spray spit through his teeth across the aisle.

As Duo was wiping his cheek, he shoved a couple of strips of paper in his mouth to prepare a very special, very juicy treat for Quatre Raberba Winner. Out the corner of his eye he saw Wufei folding a paper into his famed triangle of death. Duo knew it would hurt like hell anyone it hit. Wufei was watching Trynity, so Duo didn't have to think too hard about who the intended victim was. He turned to see Trowa launch his plane in the air, and Heero shot it down. Heero mouthed the words; "Mission accomplished" and the two laughed silently and gave a high five.

Duo was laughing to himself, then turned to spew the spit wad in his mouth across the aisle. It splattered on Quatre's paper. Quatre took his marker in his hand like a knife and raised it. Duo ducked.

"Mr. Winner, do you have a question?"

Plume noticed him! Duo bit his lip to keep from laughing.

Quatre cleared his throat. "Dr. Plume," he began, searching for words. "Would it be possible for you to please explain to us again that part about negative and positive ions. I didn't understand."

"Certainly!"

Trynity had not put her hand down. Plume purposely turned away as if getting inspiration by staring at a far object on his bookshelf. Duo took the opportunity to spit another monster wad at Quatre just as Wufei flung his triangle of death. Duo could swear he heard it whistle. Everyone held his or her breath. Duo cringed as it sliced through the air toward Trynity Stryfe. She was going to be hurting!

Suddenly Trynity turned and caught the projectile in her upraised hand. Damn! She was good! No! God no! She was returning fire! Duo barely had time to bend back to avoid the deadly points as it flew past his nose. Wufei dived to the floor. Another student screamed in pain and dropped his head on the desk. Innocent bystander!

Plume stopped talking. He seemed to come to his senses. Now he surveyed the damage to his classroom with wide eyes. Wadded paper littered the floor; flecks of white decorated the chalkboard, wall and viewing screen. Pencils hung from the foam tiles of the ceiling and one dropped as he stared open-mouthed. There were eraser pieces everywhere. Someone had drawn not a bad picture of Dr. Plume wearing a short dress and spiked heels and stuck it on the table of elements chart.

"What the hell is going on here?" He shouted.

Trynity's hand was still in the air.

Dr. Plume looked at her. "Miss Stryfe?"

She took a breath. "To begin with, Dr. Plume, the theories you began your lecture with were proven wrong over twenty years ago. In the second place, you are mistaken when you…"

"Miss Stryfe! I have had quite enough! Go to the headmaster's office immediately."

As she picked up her books, Duo felt a little guilty. She had barely done anything! An honorable man would stand up to defend her. Duo stayed in his seat.

Trynity did not reappear until ten minutes into Literature class while Heero was boring everyone with his poem about birds of prey. Mrs. Drivel told Trynity to remain standing to read hers. Duo was surprised that it was similar to Heero's, and he wondered how Heero got his hands on Trynity's paper to copy. That reminded him that his math assignment wasn't done. When it came to him, Duo managed to read the short poem he wrote in the limo although he stumbled over some of the words that had been poorly written because of the jostling between Wufei and Trynity. Mrs. Drivel was not impressed. Nor was she stunned when Wufei read his epic in monotone. He almost put everyone to sleep. Everyone except Quatre. 

There was a pleasant moment of silence when Wufei finished until Quatre awoke everyone. "Mrs. Drivel! May I read now?"

Mrs. Drivel yawned, rubbed her eyes and looked from her watch to the clock. Please, God, if you are listening, thought Duo, let the bell ring now! Mrs. Drivel didn't want to hear from Quatre either. "I believe Mr. Barton has yet to read."

Trowa stood.

There was a long moment of silence.

Quatre raised his hand.

Mrs. Drivel glared at him. "We shall give Mr. Barton a chance."

Everyone looked at Trowa.

The silence stretched. Mrs. Drivel smiled and looked at her watch.

Duo noted that Mrs. Drivel had suddenly become his favorite teacher!

Quatre bolted out of his seat. "My poem is entitled, A Rose and A Lily." He looked first at Dorothy who smiled smugly, then to Hilde who gazed adoringly at him. 

Mrs. Drivel cleared her throat and started to remind Quatre that Trowa had not read yet, but Quatre forged ahead with his poem. Trowa sank back into his seat. Mrs. Drivel began to rub her temples.

As Quatre began to read about his two flowers, Duo glanced at Trynity. What flower was she? A thistle. Definitely a thistle. Why did he just have that thought? Why was he comparing Trynity to a flower? As Quatre droned on about the attributes of his rose, Duo tried desperately not to look at Miss Stryfe. But that orange hair of hers was like a beacon. Couldn't she do something with it? Why was it always so tangled! Quatre was describing his lily, but Duo didn't hear a word. Those damn corkscrew curls! They were like snakes! No, they weren't, he argued with himself. They were like vines. The ones that rested against her cheeks were like delicate vines clinging to an ivory wall.

"Oh my God!" Duo picked up his books and rushed out of the room.

Trynity watched him go and wished she could follow. No doubt he would be vomiting that waffle he had for breakfast. Trynity felt her own breakfast ready to come up, an aftereffect of listening to Quatre's nauseating sonnet dedicated to a couple of stupid flowers. He was arguing that a rose and lily could co-exist side by side. Not so, Mr. Greenjeans! The rose would spread out and choke the delicate lily. To prove her point, she looked at Dorothy Catalonia and saw her sneering at Hilde. Hilde was oblivious. It was only a matter of time before Dorothy choked off Hilde and put an end to their ridiculous menage a trois.

Did Hilde already realize it? Did her little conversation during assembly have something to do with their previous relationship? If Hilde wanted Duo to escort her to the Stardust Ball, Trynity would gladly step aside! She hadn't really wanted to go! She had only agreed to go because she didn't want to disappoint Sally, and Duo did ask. Sally had been so pleased. But the dress could be returned. Trynity hadn't taken off the price tags.

The teacher cleared her throat. "Miss Stryfe, do you need a tissue?"

All heads were turned to her, and she was mortified to realize her cheeks were wet with tears.

Mrs. Drivel dropped a few tissues on her desk.

"I don't know how that self-serving sorry excuse for a sonnet – alliteration my dear Mr. Winner, you may wish to use some sort of style the next time you try to persuade those two flowers to stay in your garden – now where was I? Oh yes, lousy poetry! Let me see, two ridiculous odes to fierce birds soaring the skies and ripping their prey to shreds, a short verse about reaping wheat – Mr. Maxwell, just what do you know about…Where is Mr. Maxwell? Gone! No surprise! Three weeks is a record for him! – and an epic about a fire-breathing dragon with two heads."

She put her hands on her desk and leaned forward to glare at them. "Class, did I not assign a poem about something you know about, something your are familiar with, something with which you have intimate knowledge?"

"I'll bet Quatre has intimate knowledge of his rose and lily," commented Trowa.

"Mr. Barton! I will assume that is the extent of your poetry for the day. In a nutshell, all your poetry affects me like the sweet scent of freshly spread manure on a hot day on that wheat field Mr. Maxwell so briefly described earlier. I expect you all to write another poem during your vacation." She ignored the groans. "Please keep it simple, Mr. Winner! Mr. Barton, I will expect more out of you next time you read than the one-liner that entertained us today."

When the bell rang, Trynity walked straight to the Math classroom as the others drifted together: Relena to Heero, Catherine to Trowa, Quatre to Dorothy, Hilde to Quatre. Trynity left them all behind. Deep inside she wasn't surprised to see Duo waiting by the math door. He looked nervous. Trynity clutched the damp tissues in her hand. She wasn't going to cry!

Duo stopped her. "Trynity, can I talk to you?" He glanced around and Trynity looked back to see Hilde watching them as she hung on Quatre's arm.

Trynity took a deep breath and faced him. "I know what you want."

"You do?" He seemed surprised.

"I don't have a problem with it." There, she said it without watering eyes.

Duo sighed with relief. "I didn't think you would understand." He held out his hand and grinned.

Did he expect her to shake on it? She stared at his hand for a moment, then looked at his grinning face. "You don't have to polite to me anymore. I am not going to the dance with you, so stop patronizing me." She pushed past him.

Duo scratched his head as he watched her take her seat. Wufei was suddenly at his side.

"Smooth move, Maxwell. Don't expect me to take her to the Stardust Ball!"

Relena glared at him as she passed him. Heero and Trowa were smirking. What just happened? Duo quickly took his seat before the bell rang, and he tried to get Trynity's attention.

Relena leaned over to him. "You are so dead if you don't take Trynity Stryfe to the ball!" she whispered furiously.

Duo saw Trynity watching them. She was two rows away, so he couldn't whisper to her. Miss Dimster was shuffling her papers, so Duo inched off his seat and walked to the pencil sharpener. A pin could have been heard and Miss Dimster nervously reached for Master Cuddles. Silence like this in Math class could lead to only one thing, but Duo wasn't planning to cause trouble today.

Quatre nudged Trynity to get her to move, then quickly moved when her pencil thrust out. He managed to avoid the sharp tip. Trynity stayed stubbornly in her seat so there would be no meeting at the pencil sharpener. Relena spun to glare at Duo. He shrugged his shoulders.

Trowa, who had been silently watching the little drama, stood. The only thing he added to the silence was the anticipation that he might speak. No one really expected him to.

Miss Dimster looked at him.

"Miss Dimster, may I please hug Master Cuddles? I have had a difficult morning."

Miss Dimster was delighted. "Or course, Mr. Barton." She held out the worn teddy bear.

All eyes were on him, including Duo's until he noticed Heero nodding his head toward Trynity. Ah, decoy! Miss Dimster was still smiling as she now searched her paper-strewn desk, mumbling something about handing out corrected tests. 

Trowa tossed the bear behind his back to Heero.

Duo ducked and crawled down the aisle to Trynity's desk. He squatted beside her desk.

"Why won't you go with me?"

Miss Dimster looked up. "Mr. Barton, where is Master Cuddles?"

"Right here, Miss Dimster!" Heero held up the teddy bear. "I have had a bad day too!"

Miss Dimster smiled. "Very well! That is what Master Cuddles is here for." She reached down to open her desk draw, but it was stuck. It usually was.

Trynity looked at Duo as she worked with her drawer. "You don't want to go with me!"

Heero tossed the bear to Wufei using a hook shot. It arced high and Wufei leapt to snatch it out of midair.

Miss Dimster finally opened the drawer and pulled out a pen. Her gaze went nervously to Heero and she seemed startled. "What have you done with Master Cuddles, Mr. Yuy?"

"I gave him to Chang Wufei."

Slowly she turned to Wufei. Now she seemed worried. "Mr. Wufei, can I trust you to take care of Master Cuddles?"

He nodded solemnly. "I protect the weak, Miss Dimster, and Master Cuddles is weak."

Miss Dimster smiled nervously and turned around to write the curve for the last test on the chalkboard.

Duo put his hand on Trynity's arm and she looked at him. "Hey, I didn't say anything about not wanting to go with you to the dance. We are still on, okay?" Her eyes seemed misty as she looked at him. God! Don't act like a girl now, Trynity Stryfe!

Wufei stood. Quatre ducked.

"Okay," said Trynity, and she smiled at Duo.

Damn! Not the smile! Duo wobbled to his feet just as Wufei fired. Master Cuddles hurtled through time and space until he bounced off Duo and hit Miss Dimster in the back.

The teacher turned quickly around. "Master Cuddles!" Miss Dimster fell to her knees and gently lifted the bear from the floor. One button eye was missing; the other was hanging by a couple of threads. Stuffing was falling out of its empty eye socket, and Miss Dimster was frantically pushing it back in as she moved her hand around under her desk searching for the missing eye. She was sniffling and sobbing. No one dared breathe. Miss Dimster was falling to pieces!

Suddenly there was an outburst of laughter, and Duo looked quickly at Trynity. Her head was on her desk buried in her arms and her shoulders were shaking as she giggled.

"Miss…Miss Stryfe!"

Trynity raised her head, and there were tears of laughter in her eyes. "Yes, Miss Dimster?" But she was still giggling.

Miss Dimster clutched the bear to her even as its grayish innards were oozing out. "Get out of my classroom! Go to Mr. Himmler's office immediately. I never want to see you again!" She turned her furious gaze to Duo who still stood stupidly in the middle of the aisle, incriminating himself. "And you!" she growled. "How dare you!" She held out the limp bear. The other button eye fell to the floor. "Look what you have done to Master Cuddles!"

Trynity paused at the door.

Duo scratched his head. "Does this mean Master Cuddles won't be forgiving me?"

Both he and Trynity ducked out the door and were laughing as Miss Dimster screeched. Suddenly the mutilated bear flew into the hall and hit Trynity square in the face. Her glasses fell to the floor. Duo scooped them up before they dashed away to the headmaster's office.

Trynity felt bad about leaving the sagging, ripped body of Master Cuddles lying in the hallway amid tufts of white and gray stuffing. But she was still giggling even as they entered the outer office where Mr. Himmler's secretary looked up.

Duo smiled at the woman.

She frowned. "Good morning, Mr. Maxwell." She looked at Trynity. "Back so soon, Miss Stryfe?"

Trynity sighed and whispered to Duo, "Sally Po is going to be angry with me."

"Me too," he whispered back.

She looked at his eyes. "What did you want outside the classroom?"

"I wanted to copy your math assignment."

Trynity felt foolish for what she had thought. Where was the fault of her logic? She had seen Hilde talking to Duo. Perhaps it meant nothing. Yet the sight had been annoying. More than annoying! Trynity wasn't jealous! She wasn't! It wasn't possible! Then why did she want to swing a flail at the other girl?

"My assignment wasn't done," she confessed.

Duo looked at her with surprise. "Miss Stryfe!"

She giggled.

"You dropped these." He was holding up the glasses. They were a little bent but not broken. Before she could reach out to take them, he raised them and perched them on her nose, carefully adjusting them around her ears. But they slipped to the end of her nose. 

Trynity smiled at Duo.

There was a startled look in his blue eyes, then he pushed back her messy curls and cupped her face in his hands.

Trynity couldn't breathe. Her heart was pounding so fast she thought it would explode.

Duo leaned forward.

She closed her eyes.

"Mr. Maxwell! Just what do you think you are doing?" Trynity opened her eyes as Mr. Himmler seized Duo's arm and jerked him from the chair beside her. "Into my office now. And you!" He turned on Trynity like a ferocious beast. "I am surprised at you Miss Stryfe! You are a very intelligent girl! What is going through your head?"

Trynity was dazed. What was going through her head? Duo's big blue eyes, the sound of his voice, the warmth of his touch, his smile…

The headmaster snorted with disgust. "Come along, Miss Stryfe. Yet another call to Sally Po! At least her number is on speed dial."


	11. Dining in the Cinq Kingdom

****

Restaurant de la Paix, Cinq Kingdom

"If you review the data, you will see that the abnormality in energy pulses occurs over the Cinq Kingdom."

Miliardo sipped from his wineglass as he studied the screen before him. "We can reasonably assume the Shadowhawk gundam is hiding somewhere in my jurisdiction." The thought was galling. Saying it aloud was humiliating.

Sally Po picked at her salad. Even she could not look at him. The gundams had been discovered by someone, Lucrezia Noin was dead to the world and all the while the Shadowhawk was hiding under his nose.

The waiter inquired if they would need anything else. After re-filling Miliardo's glass, he left them. The restaurant was elegant and exclusive. Miliardo needed to get out of the palace and Sally suggested meeting him here. His arrival had caused a sensation. It wasn't every day the ruling prince walked into a public restaurant. The proprietor had come to greet him and escorted him to a table himself. Miliardo was not unaware that the restaurant was a veritable shrine to the Peacecraft family. Portraits of his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were tastefully placed on the walls. There was even a portrait of Relena. There was none of him.

The other diners stared at them, their heads coming together. They were talking about him. These arrogant noble people viewed him with a mixture of contempt and fear. They criticized him for the life he had lead as Zechs Merquise. They could all go to hell! Without Zechs Merquise there would be no Cinq Kingdom.

The telecom on the computer flashed and Miliardo pushed it back towards Sally. She took the call from Headmaster Himmler after dabbing her lips with a napkin.

"Sorry to disturb you, Miss Po, but I have just finished speaking to Miss Stryfe. She caused a major disruption in her Physics class. Dr. Plume has had to leave for the day because of it."

Miliardo frowned. That was all he needed! His special orphans were supposed to make him look good! That scientist's brat was worse than Duo Maxwell. He drained his wineglass; the waiter discreetly refilled it.

As Sally was listening to the headmaster and empathizing with his dismay, promising a severe reprimand for Miss Stryfe, a group of young school girls arrived at his table bearing a bouquet of white flowers. They giggled and blushed as he thanked them and kissed their hands. The flowers symbolized their hope for peace. Miliardo mused that they should be sprinkled with red for peace could only be maintained with blood.

Sally finished her call just as he finished his wine. "Jerk," she muttered.

"Problems with Miss Trynity Stryfe?" He glanced at the waiter who promptly filled his glass. "I had hoped she would have a positive influence on the others."

Sally laughed softly. "They are not opposite ends of the spectrum! Trynity Stryfe is all five of those boys rolled into one."

"A female to boot!" snorted Miliardo. He drank his wine. "God help us all!"

His companion raised her brows ever so slightly as the waiter popped the cork to another bottle and refilled the prince's glass, but then she turned her attention back to the computer screen. "We ran a highly sensitive scan as recommended by…well…you know who."

Did he? Oh, yes! He certainly did! He smiled as he thought of her, but the smile faded when he remembered how eager she had been to be away from him when they returned from Dover the night before. No kiss good-bye, barely a word. She had been distracted. Just as distracted as he had been by her throughout the day. He had hoped to end the day a little differently, but he spent the night alone.

He drank his wine.

Miliardo didn't like this feeling at all, this feeling that she did not need him. 

"Your Excellency?" Sally was speaking to him.

He shook himself out of thoughts of Lucrezia Noin. Before they could continue their discussion, they were interrupted when old friends of his parents stopped by the table. Marquis Dietrich shook his hand and began to reminisce about Miliardo's peace-loving father, and by the time he left, Miliardo needed something stronger to drink. The waiter didn't blink at his request.

Sally frowned. "I hope Lieutenant Benton is close by. Someone is going to have to carry you out of here."

Miliardo chuckled. "I don't think they will be hanging my official portrait anytime soon." Then he added. "This was a bad idea."

"You can't hide in the palace," Sally warned him. "You belong in public. Let your people see Miliardo Peacecraft and they will forget the man known as Zechs Merquise."

"How can they see Miliardo Peacecraft when I don't know who he is yet." Miliardo took a long drink of the glass of brandy set by his hand.

Sally would have spoken again, but she received another call.

"Miss Po, I regret disturbing you again, but Mrs. Drivel informed me that Duo Maxwell walked out of her class midway through."

Sally was very good at hiding her true feelings. She assured the headmaster that there would be consequences. When he was off the line, Sally laughed. "How does one punish the god of death?"

Miliardo threw back his blond head in laughter. The other dignified diners stared at him, scandalized. "Take away his scythe for a week?"

Sally joined him in laughter.

Another course of their meal arrived and another refill of his glass. How did it get empty?

"As I mentioned earlier, we ran a sensitive scan, but were unable to located the Shadowhawk. We can assume that whatever is masking that gundam is using variable waves that are almost impossible to detect in the area we have to cover. If we could narrow down the search, we may have a better chance. But with our present technology it is almost like looking for a certain grain of sand on a beach."

"Just who would have the advanced technology to create such a force field?" Miliardo stared at the glass of brandy before drinking. "And why is there no record anywhere?"

Sally was about to speak when she was interrupted by the telecom again.

"Miss Po, I truly hope this is the last time I need call. I have in my office Miss Stryfe and Mr. Maxwell. Miss Dimster sent them. The poor woman has resigned her position at the academy! I shall have a very difficult time replacing her!"

Miliardo laughed aloud. Suddenly his glass was empty. When did that happen?

Sally sighed with exasperation. "Mr. Himmler, I can send a car to pick them up."

"As if their behavior in Miss Dimster's office wasn't bad enough, I caught Mr. Maxwell making improper advances toward Miss Stryfe in my outer office!"

The shocked expression on Sally's face made Miliardo snort with laughter. The maitre d' took a step toward his table, then seemed to think better of reprimanding to Prince Miliardo Peacecraft.

"I will certainly have a long talk with Mr. Maxwell," Sally said when she found her voice.

"I suggest you do the same with Miss Stryfe!"

The man ended the communication.

Sally stared at the screen and muttered something that made the diners nearer their table turn away in censure. 

Miliardo raised his glass. "To Duo Maxwell, god of death." He ignored Sally's look of disapproval and drained the glass.

"You were right, this was a bad idea. I had hoped to give you a report," she said as she set aside her napkin. "Apparently I will have to cut this delightful experience short."

"Yes," he agreed. "You had best go to the academy and pick those naughty children up yourself."

"Indeed." Sally smiled. "I suppose I shall have to sit between them."

Miliardo watched the waiter fill his glass. He loosened his tie and undid the top two buttons of his shirt. His thoughts were becoming quite sluggish, but that certainly was not unpleasant.

A commotion at the door drew Sally's attention and she frowned. "Here comes dessert."

Miliardo half turned and had to grasp the table to keep from falling off his chair. Good reflexes, he congratulated himself. He wasn't called the Lightening Count for nothing!

Then he saw her walking toward the table, her womanly saunter causing an eruption of whispers and outraged gasps. She wore more clothing than usual, but the flimsy fabric coupled with the way she walked drew all male eyes her way. The silk black vest was shortened so that I barely covered her, and the matching pants were loose, but they hung so low on her hips that only her curvy backside and her hipbones kept them up. The slightest tug and…Miliardo's hand was shaking as he drank more brandy. She was wearing a golden chain around her trim waist from which dangled a lightening bolt.

Miliardo motioned to the waiter. He now reluctantly refilled the glass as Roxie Rivera/Lucrezia Noin deposited her shopping bags by the table. She lowered her dark glasses and pushed up the wide black hat so that she could see him.

"You are a hard man to find, my little prince," she said huskily, then leaned down to kiss his cheek.

That alone was enough to outrage the respectable Cinq Kingdom nobility dining at the exclusive Restaurant de la Paix, but Miliardo put his hands on her bare waist and drew her roughly against him. Noin couldn't have been more surprised until she tasted the strong liquor in his kiss. She managed to wriggle out of his embrace to sit on a chair provided by the stern-faced maitre d'. Noin tried to sit closer to Sally, but Miliardo put a hand on her chair and jerked it beside him.

"You are drunk," she whispered furiously.

He ignored her. "What have you been up to, my little Valkyrie?"

She raised her bleached brows. "Shopping for something to match your gift." He was reaching for the glass, but Noin put her hand over his. She understood his uneasiness to be in public, and finding him here, of all places was unexpected. They could not have picked a worse place to dine. Sentiment among the nobility ran against Miliardo Peacecraft because of his past association with OZ.

Miliardo raised her hand to his lips. "I hope you didn't spend too much of my money. The royal treasury does have its limit."

Sally cleared her throat.

Noin reluctantly looked away from Miliardo who did not release her hand.

"I was about to leave. The prince is in your capable hands." But Sally pushed her computer to Noin who noticed addresses of files for her to read.

The waiter appeared after Sally left. "Miss…Madame…" He obviously did not know how to refer to the prince's plaything. Noin was amused. "Can I get you anything?" he finally asked.

She was about to say she needed nothing, but Miliardo was kissing her hand again. Under normal circumstances she would enjoy his lips against each knuckle, but his drunken slobbering was anything but romantic.

"Coffee," she told the waiter. "Bring a pot."

Miliardo was so busy with the task of worshipping her hand that he did not even notice that she swiped his half-full glass of brandy to hand to the waiter who gave her a look of mingled surprise and gratitude. What did they think was going to happen? she wondered. Did they think Zechs Merquise was going to leap up and pull a gun? She noticed people leaving, their angry gazes straying to their table. Oh, Miliardo, you have royally screwed up this time!

Shrugging, she turned her attention to the computer. Sally's report was on the screen. Miliardo was talking to her, his words slurring, and he didn't seem to notice that she answered his questions with unintelligible monosyllables. No doubt his behavior today was brought on by Sally's report concluding that the Shadowhawk was hiding in the Cinq Kingdom. Zechs Merquise hated to be outplayed. Miliardo Peacecraft was taking it personally. There was no way to fight back against the unseen enemy.

The waiter arrived with the coffee. Noin persuaded Miliardo to drink a cup as she studied the data Sally left for her. Finishing, she placed a call to the Dover Base underground lab were Howard and his crew were working on the Epyon and Valkyrie. Without speaking, she transmitted the data. He assured her the scanning system of both gundams would be upgraded.

She typed in; "All gundams should be upgraded. Report to Seaside Lab today." Noin glanced at Miliardo. 

He was resting his head on the table. A sober Miliardo Peacecraft would absolutely refuse her next request. Drunk, on the other hand…

"Transport gundams Epyon and Valkryie to Seaside," she typed.

Howard raised his brows. "My dear, is this what Prince Miliardo wants?"

"He will give you the codes," she lied as she typed in Miliardo's personal access codes. Then she flipped the screen to Miliardo who sat up and reached for his coffee.

"Howard! Nice to see you!"

Noin entered the codes. Howard watched them appear, his brows raising, then said, "And you, your Excellency are looking quite blissful."

Miliardo spilled the coffee he was raising to his lips. The cup and saucer clattered, the dark liquid stained his shirt. He swore loudly.

Howard chuckled as Noin quickly soaked the mess with her napkin. Miliardo was too drunk to be embarrassed. More customers were leaving and a couple waiting for a table turned and left. So much for public opinion!

"Very well, your Excellency," said Howard, but he was speaking directly to Noin. "I will do as you request." He winked at her, then ended the communication.

Noin didn't have time to feel guilty for her deception. The waiter arrived followed by the maitre d'. They had anxious looks on their faces. Noin wondered what they would do. Were they going to throw Prince Miliardo Peacecraft out of the restaurant? Although she would like to see how it would have played out, she sent a message to Benton who quickly appeared at the doorway.

"Is there anything more we can do for his Excellency?" asked the maitre d'.

Noin closed the computer, then stood and looked around the room. She pointed to a far wall. "I think his portrait would look good about there. See that it is done within the week."

Benton bit his lip to keep from smiling when the maitre d' stared at her in stunned silence. Miliardo rose unsteadily to his feet, but he brushed off Benton's stabilizing grasp and forged ahead on his own. He walked with dignity to the door.

His dignity was gone only a block from the restaurant. Noin managed to save her purchases from one bag before he shoved his head inside and vomited. Benton smothered a laugh. Noin patted Miliardo's back, then handed Benton the bag and sat back against the seat with Miliardo's blond head on her shoulder.

She stroked his hair as he groaned into her neck. "My apartment is closer than the palace," she reminded the lieutenant.

Benton grinned. "May I have your word, Miss Rivera, that you will not take advantage of the prince?"

Noin smiled. "No, you may not!"

****

Seaside Laboratory/Gundam Hanger

Duo's fingers were tangled in wires when he saw Sally Po approaching. She hadn't said a single word of reprimand for what happened at school. He and Trynity surely owed that to a call from Howard informing her that he would be arriving with a rather large shipment. Once back at Seaside Lab, Trynity escaped to her room, probably embarrassed over the whole matter. Himmler had raked them both over the coals. What had Duo been doing? In front of the secretary? Even thinking about it made him cringe.

But now Sally bore down on him. "Duo, if you are finished, I want to talk to you."

He looked from her to the wires. Sam was waiting inside the gundam, making intricate modifications to the wiring. Shrugging, Duo tossed the wires to him. He could figure it out! He was a smart guy. As he followed Sally he heard Sam cursing.

"If it's about school…" he started.

Sally frowned. "I wasn't going to mention the incident, but since you have, we have no choice but to discuss it now."

"Then what did you want?"

"Not so fast, Duo Maxwell. Walking out of Literature class, I can understand. You have done that plenty of times. Harassing your math teacher, well the woman almost expects it. But what were you doing to Trynity Stryfe in Mr. Himmler's office?"

Duo had no answer.

Sally crossed her arms. "Now is not the time to be Trowa Barton. I expect an answer."

Duo put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "I think I was going to…to…"

Sally raised her brows.

Duo swallowed. "…to kiss her."

There was surprise in her eyes and it annoyed Duo. Was he the only one who could actually see Trynity Stryfe?

"Well," stated Sally. "That is a far cry from the molestation suggested by Mr. Himmler. Do I need to tell you not to take advantage of Trynity? Besides, it would be improper for anything to develop between the two of you because as Prince Miliardo's wards you live under the same roof."

"Improper?" repeated Duo. This was ridiculous! And Sally's disapproval angered him. "Improper, as in what was going on between Prince Miliardo and the commander of his army?"

Sally gasped. "Duo! There was nothing going on between Noin and Prince Miliardo."

"But if it had been," he winked at her, "then it would have been improper. But what is going on with his white-haired hootch, now that is not improper?"

"You are twisting this," complained Sally. She sighed. "Duo, just don't toy with Trynity. She does have feelings."

So do I, thought Duo. Aargh! What was happening to him?

They had no further opportunity to speak. The shipment from the Dover base arrived, and Duo was happy to greet Howard. As the giant doors slid open, Duo dragged Howard to the Deathscythe where he and Sam listed all their improvements and repairs. Howard made suggestions, then left to run diagnostics on the other gundams.

By the time the shipment was brought in, the lab was devoid of the extra space reserved for the Epyon and another huge, covered mobile suit was blocking the entrance. They were barely able to close the doors. Duo joined Sally as technicians removed the tarps. Duo wasn't surprised to see the torn apart form of the Epyon. But the other…

"It's a gundam," he murmured in awe as he stared at the midnight blue and purple mobile suit. "Whose is it?"

Sally stared at it with a raised brow, then looked at Howard. "Who ordered this?"

He snickered as he showed her the orders, complete with Miliardo Peacecraft's codes.

Sally frowned. "When?"

"Sometime between snoring on the table and spilling coffee all over himself."

"I thought as much." Sally was biting her lip as she stared at the gundam.

Duo ran his hands along the surface of it. "Can I take it for a spin?"

"I think it is some else's toy," said Howard, smiling. "I am quite sure that someone would not want you taking it for it's first flight."

Duo could think of only one person capable of piloting a gundam like this, and she was dead. The work on this suit must have started months ago. Duo felt sad the gundam would never know the pilot for which it had been created. He was surprised Miliardo Peacecraft did not destroy it.

When Trowa, Quatre, Heero and Wufei arrived home from school, they were equally amazed and perplexed about the new gundam, but neither Sally nor Howard would reveal the pilot's name.

"Maybe they will train Miss Stryfe," suggested Quatre.

They all laughed, even Duo. Sure, she could pack a nasty punch, and she was smarter than all five of them put together, but she would never be able to master a gundam!

She couldn't even tie her shoes!

"Speaking of Miss Stryfe," said Wufei, "I believe it is time for supper."

Quatre rubbed his hands together excitedly as they rode the elevator to the main level. "I can't wait to taste what she has cooked."

"Nor can I," commented Wufei as he punched some buttons on his palm computer.

"Anything is better than Spaghetti Os," remarked Heero.

Duo chuckled.

The elevator door slid open.

"I don't smell anything," commented Trowa, then added, "I should have asked Catherine to make us a meal."

Heero snorted. "Then how did you plan on getting her the hell out of here after she was done."

"Good point."

There was no sound from the kitchen. Heero reached behind his back and pulled a gun. "This doesn't look good."

"I don't think she's armed," said Duo.

They inched toward the dining room.

Duo was forced to peek in first when Wufei shoved his head around the corner. He reported that the table was formally set, complete with lit candles and tablecloth. There were covered platters, but no sign of Trynity Stryfe. He motioned them in.

Quatre cried in delight. "I knew she would come through!"

Heero tucked away the gun and sat while taking a napkin.

Trowa made no comment.

Wufei stared with his brows raised. "Where is Miss Stryfe?"

"Who cares? I'm starving!" 

Duo reached for one cover and pulled it up. Two writhing tentacles flopped over the platter onto the table. Quatre screeched. Heero leapt to his feet, pulled the gun and pumped several rounds into the creature. A bloody tentacle splattered Quatre, guts drenched Trowa, and Duo managed to duck an eyeball. Wufei had raised his plate as a shield.

"Who wants to dig in first?" asked Duo with a chuckle.

Trowa lifted another platter as Heero aimed his reloaded, smoking pistol.

"Seaweed," stated Wufei.

"She didn't even wash it," commented Duo as he watched a tiny crab scrabble across it.

There was one more platter.

"I've seen enough," stated Wufei.

"Me too!" Quatre was still peeling off squid and octopus pieces.

Trowa said nothing as a bloody pulp dripped down his cheek.

"Do it!" ordered a wild-eyed Heero Yuy, his gun aimed at the last platter.

Duo raised the cover to reveal a large, molded chocolate mousse on a crystal platter. Heero cocked the gun. They waited. Nothing moved, so Heero put away his gun.

"What's that?" cried Quatre, throwing himself behind Trowa.

Heero almost pulled his weapon, but Duo grabbed his arm. "It's just a note."

Quatre reached around Trowa to pick it up, and everyone was startled by a click. They could hear the steady tick-tock of a clock. But looking around they saw nothing. Quatre leaned away from the card as he opened as if expecting something to jump out, and when nothing happened, he read.

"Sorry about the supper! I can't cook. Enjoy the chocolate mousse. But eat fast. Time is running out!"

"What does she mean by that?" asked Heero.

The clock stopped ticking.

Wufei raised a brow.

Before anyone could react, there was an explosion. One minute there was a delicious, edible dessert, the next, a dining room splattered with sweet chocolate.

Duo took his finger, scraped some off his cheek and tasted. "Delicious."

The doorbell rang.

Heero pulled his gun. "Damn her!"

Wufei put his hand out to push aside the gun. "Don't shoot. I took the liberty of ordering a pizza."


	12. A Magical Night I

****

Royal Palace

"How do I look, Benton?"

The lieutenant grinned. "Sir, I told you five minutes ago."

Miliardo started pacing then stopped to look at the clock, then at Benton again. "Is it too early to leave?"

"I believe so. Another ten minutes should be sufficient."

He was being a fool, Miliardo knew it, but the anticipation was unbearable. That morning he had awakened with a splitting headache lying in a strange bed. He didn't realize where he was until he stumbled out of the bedroom and saw Noin still dressed sleeping on a chair, her head back with a viewing visor on her head. Miliardo hadn't thought she was the type to waste time on virtual games. Despite his rumbling gut and the spears attacking behind his eyes, he smiled and gently took the visor from her head.

Noin had instantly awakened and snatched the visor from him with lightening reflexes. Hence the tattoo, he thought with a laugh. Noin had taken care of him that morning. Noin always took care of him. Miliardo wanted to take care of her forever. Tonight was the night. Tonight there was magic in the air. He felt it.

Relena had left five minutes ago to pick up Heero Yuy for the Stardust Ball. She had warned him to behave. This was a ceremonial duty, yet his sister didn't trust him. Miliardo wasn't about to replay yesterday's debacle in the restaurant. Tonight he had something else in mind. A dance in the moonlight, a kiss, and a tender declaration. He reached into his pocket to withdraw a small royal blue velvet covered box. Benton inched closer as Miliardo opened it. 

The lieutenant stared open-mouthed at the brilliance of the ring. Two lightening bolts fashion of diamonds crossed. "Is it engraved?" asked Benton.

Miliardo chuckled. "You can't engrave gundanium alloy."

Benton laughed. "She will love it!"

Before Miliardo could put the box away, the door to the salon swung open. "Vice-Minister Lady Une," announced the servant.

The box slipped from his fingers, and both he and Benton bent to retrieve it, colliding as they did.

Miliardo felt like a fool on his knees as Lady Une walked in wearing formal attire, a fur thrown over her shoulder. He and Benton exchanged surprised looks, then Miliardo straightened. Benton shot up after him and shoved the ring in his hand.

Smoothing his white suit, Miliardo stepped forward. "Vice-Minister, this is an unexpected pleasure."

A handshake was not enough for her. She shoved her hand under his nose and he had no choice but to brush his lips against her cool flesh. "Geneva is so close by, Miliardo, that I could not resist a visit. I did not want you to have to escort your own sister to the Stardust Ball. A strong, handsome prince like you should have a woman at his side."

Miliardo tried to release her hand, but she curled her fingers around his and moved closer. "I was about to leave," he said lamely, unable to come up with anything else.

Lady Une smiled. "Then I arrived at the perfect moment. We can take my car." She curled her arm around his and Miliardo was forced to accompany her. He threw one desperate look over his shoulder at Benton.

Benton clicked his heels together and saluted.

So much for a magical night.

**********

The doorbell rang.

Noin stopped by a full-length mirror to check her appearance for the umpteenth time. The sparkling dark red floor-length gown fit perfectly. It shimmered over her as she moved, but for once she didn't look like that indecent slut Roxie Rivera.

The doorbell rang again.

She ignored it as she double-checked the makeup she used sparingly tonight. Roxie was an amusing persona, she thought, but as she fingered the Peacecraft rubies, she knew she would never embarrass Miliardo when wearing them. The only imperfection to the ensemble was the bleached hair that was arranged atop her head tonight. The rubies would look much better with her own black hair. She would be glad to rid herself of the hair extensions and wigs. But until the Shadowhawk was destroyed, she had no choice. Gundam pilots were notorious for single-mindedly completing their missions. Devoid of fragile emotions, the pilots had only their mission. Noin preferred that the Shadowhawk did not accomplish that one particular mission.

Now the doorbell was ringing insistently, so she went to the door, smiling about Miliardo's impatience. She was surprised to find Benton waiting in the hallway. Noin looked past him, half-expecting to see her prince skulking indecisively as usual. But the corridor was empty. Although it was strangely inconsiderate, Noin decided he was waiting in the car.

"Well," she commented aloud, "I shouldn't have expected any different, not after yesterday." She smiled and pulled Benton into her apartment. "At least I can get your opinion."

"Miss…Rivera?"

Noin snatched up her handbag lying on a side table and pushed aside makeup, a silk handkerchief and a handgun. Then she pulled out a small, royal blue covered box. "I am going to be shockingly bold tonight, lieutenant."

Benton raised a brow. "Miss Rivera, when are you not shockingly bold?"

Laughing softly, she snapped open the box and watched his reaction. Benton did not disappoint her. His eyes widened and he looked at her face. She smiled and lifted the ring, two lightening bolts of diamonds that crossed.

"I tried to have it engraved," she told Benton as she turned the ring to catch the light.

"You can't engrave gundanium," he remarked.

Noin looked at him. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess!"

"The royal jeweler fashion it from my design. So I know it is the right size. The jeweler seemed amused by my request."

"I can't imagine why," chuckled Benton, and when she looked at him, he was grinning like a fool. "It's not everyday a lowlife like yourself commissions a ring for the ruling prince."

Noin laughed and pushed the ring in its resting-place, returning it to her bag. "I suppose your are right! But tonight we will not be seeing the lowlife Roxie Rivera. Lucrezia Noin is going to ask Miliardo Peacecraft to marry her."

Silence met her announcement.

She looked at Benton and he seemed anxious. "What is the matter?"

"You may wish to do it another time," advised the lieutenant.

Noin laughed and spun, hugging herself. "It's a magical night, Benton! I feel it here." She pressed her gloved hands to her chest. "How can he not feel it too?"

Benton did not share her enthusiasm.

Her euphoria faded. "What is wrong, lieutenant?"

"I'm sorry, commander…" He caught himself, "Miss Rivera. You will not be able to accompany the prince tonight."

"You are joking!" Noin laughed, but stopped abruptly when she saw the seriousness of his expression. "You aren't!" She felt crushed and couldn't keep the tears from spilling over her lashes. Benton quickly offered his handkerchief, and she dabbed them away.

"Is it because of the publicity?" The newspapers had been scathing in criticism of Miliardo Peacecraft that day for his ignoble behavior at the restaurant the previous afternoon. But Miliardo had read the paper over her breakfast table while drinking strong coffee and nursing a hangover. He had made no comment then. The moment he left her apartment, however, reporters and photographers had besieged him. The picture of him on the afternoon news report had been less than flattering. And it had been flashed next to old footage of Zechs Merquise. 

"He would be with you, if he could," stated Benton earnestly.

Noin started to draw off the long, dark red gloves. "Well, I suppose its another night alone then." She glanced at Benton, noticing that he was formally dressed. "Don't let me keep you from your duties, lieutenant."

He straightened his jacket sleeves. "I am not on duty this evening, Miss Rivera." Benton held out his arm to her. "I believe the prince would want you to attend the ball. He is expecting to see you there."

She raised a brow. Noin had assumed Miliardo would hide in the palace again. "But…"

"His Excellency is escorting Vice-Minister Lady Une this evening."

"Lady Une!" Was that her shrieking like a jealous hag?

Benton cringed. "She suddenly appeared."

"Like the Shadowhawk!" Noin was frowning. "And the Lightening Count couldn't make evasive maneuvers?" Suddenly she burst into laughter as she imagined Miliardo Peacecraft confronted with the World and Space Alliance's resident shark. How she would have loved to see the look on his face!

She smiled at Benton. "I would be delighted to accompany you, lieutenant."

He saluted her and clicked his heels. "I am at your service."

********** 

"…And progress has been made rebuilding the west side of the city."

Lady Une sighed and sat back against the plush seat of her limousine. "The Cinq Kingdom has come a long way under your leadership."

Her assessing gaze made Miliardo's flesh crawl. Another man might find her attractive, but he knew that beneath her beauty beat the heart of a calculating snake.

She crossed her legs and her dress fell open to expose her shapely leg to her thigh. Her lips curved into a smile. "You have been very busy, Zechs Merquise."

How much did she really know? Miliardo didn't betray his concern. "The Cinq Kingdom has been devastated by wars. There is much to be done."

"Do not neglect your duties to the World and Space Alliance," she scolded softly, then tossed back her hair. His eyes were drawn to the diamond necklace dripping down her neck, and consequently to her plunging neckline. 

He wondered how Noin was reacting to her change in escorts.

"Miliardo, why don't you open the champagne."

To get to the bottle resting in a silver bucket on the floor, he would have to reach across Lady Une. He gauged the distance between himself and the bottle, the angle of approach and the length of time there would be physical contact. By the light of anticipation, he saw in her eyes that she was doing the same. It would take a clever man to overcome her. Zechs Merquise could do it. He was the Lightening Count.

With a sigh, he reached for the bottle, but Lady Une chose that moment to shift her legs, knocking him in the chest, and he fell forward, his face coming to a stop in her bosom. Lady Une took a deep breath, but Miliardo seized the neck of the champagne bottle and sprang back. That battle was his!

Lady Une smiled. Miliardo righted himself and murmured an apology, then turned his eyes to the champagne bottle. What was Noin doing? Was she with Benton in his own car?

That thought made him pause. He had a bottle of champagne in his car too. What kind of games was Roxie Rivera playing with Lieutenant Benton at this exact moment?

"I'll get the glasses," volunteered Lady Une. They were on the other side of Miliardo, but he wasn't thinking about what physical contortions they would be going through for her to get them.

Benton was a handsome young man, he thought as he worked at the cork. Noin had trained him at Lake Victoria. She had trained many men who adored her. Benton was no different, was he? 

Lady Une brushed against him as she lifted the delicate glasses.

He smiled faintly at her as he continued to struggle with the cork. 

How did Noin look wearing those rubies? The bill for her gown had been enormous, but at least the designer was reputable. How did she react when Benton gave her the news? Was she angry? Would she be looking for revenge? Would she be upset and need comfort? Would Benton comfort her?

Lady Une was smiling patiently as she held out the glasses.

Miliardo frowned. Benton was comforting Noin. Benton was admiring her in her lovely, expensive designer gown. Benton was seeing his jewels around her neck. Benton…Benton had seen Noin wearing nothing but the jewels!

"Miliardo?" prompted Lady Une.

He looked at the bottle. Damn! If Noin didn't show up at the ball, if Benton didn't show his face…

The cork popped and champagne spilled over his hand. Lady Une gasped, then laughed as she quickly dabbed at the champagne with a handkerchief from her handbag. She managed to contain the spill to his cuff. She was so close he could feel her warm breath against his neck.

Noin and Benton! Miliardo glared past Lady Une's head. He should have known! No wonder Noin had wanted Benton to know she was not dead! Or did he know all along? Had he been meeting her secretly?

Lady Une put her hands on his chest and ran her fingers under the lapels of his jacket.

He glanced down at her.

She pushed herself upwards.

What a stupid thought! Benton was always standing in his shadow! Miliardo even doubted the young man slept.

Quickly he turned to take a glass from where she had placed them on the seat beside him. "Some champagne, Lady Une?"

Sighing, she righted herself and sat back with a glass in her hand. She was watching him pour the champagne through half-closed eyes. Miliardo was extremely annoyed to be sitting here fighting off this piranha while Noin and Benton were…were…

"You can stop pouring anytime," remarked Lady Une with amusement.

He was spilling champagne over the rim of the glass. Smiling lamely, he took a sip from the glass, then handed it to her to hold as he poured another. When he finished, they exchanged glasses and her fingers brushed over his unnecessarily.

Was Noin having a drink with Benton?

Lady Une raised her glass. "To us and a new beginning to an old alliance."

New beginning? Old alliance? Is that what was going on with Benton and Noin? Was Noin tapping her glass to Benton's now? Was she looking at him over the rim of that glass as she took a drink? Did Benton take the glass out of her hand to set aside? Was Noin reaching out for him?

The sound of breaking glass and Lady Une's gasp snapped him out of his fantasy. There was broken glass on his lap, a stem in his hand.

"My, aren't you nervous!" laughed Vice-Minister Une, but she was eyeing the glass in his lap with glee. Before he could react, she was gathering the pieces, quite liberally touching him. Then she was attacking him with her handkerchief.

Before she could make a full assault, the limousine rolled to a stop. Reports and photographers converged on the car.

Lady Une smiled at him. "This publicity will be good for you, Zechs Merquise."

The bright flashes hurt his eyes as he stepped from the limousine. He held out his hand and Lady Une took it. She stepped out gracefully and moved close to Miliardo, tossing her fur over her shoulder. To all their questions about their relationship, she had no comment. One hapless reporter dared to ask Miliardo's intentions toward Roxie Rivera, and his glare stunned him silent. Miliardo was uncomfortable with Lady Une pressed close to him. Where was Noin?

Lady Une was in the middle of a discourse on the objectives of the Geneva Conference when another limousine arrived, this one bearing the flags of the Cinq Kingdom's royal family. Miliardo watched as Benton stepped out and held out his hand. He saw her shapely leg first, and when the rest of her emerged, he completely forgot about the woman who seemed to be growing out the side of his body. Miliardo couldn't breathe.

As she stepped from the car, photographers engulfed Noin. She was in no mood to be Roxie Rivera tonight, and she realized too late that it was to her disadvantage. She appeared every bit the dying flame of Prince Miliardo as Lady Une stood blazing brightly at his side. Damn! She was a blood-sucking leech!

Benton held out his arm and Noin took it, ignoring the reporters who were demanding to know what she would do. What did they think she would do? Noin could put up with the speculations of the reports as she approached the other couple. She could even stand the smug smirk on Lady Une's face as she and Benton drew level with them. But she couldn't take the sight of lipstick on the pristine white collar of Miliardo's shirt. 

Benton leaned close to whisper. "Please don't draw your gun!"

Laughing softly, she thought how pleasant it would be to aim her gun straight at Lady's Une's cold heart. Then she noticed the color come to Miliardo's face as he looked from her to Benton. Well! This was a change! Miliardo Peacecraft was jealous! If she wanted to spite him, she would make the most of it by hanging on Benton like Lady Une, but the warmth of the Peacecraft rubies around her neck reminded her of her original mission. Lady Une could pretend all she wanted. Miliardo Peacecraft was hers.

So squaring her shoulders, she moved past Benton, and when she came to Miliardo, she turned to give him a warm smile. He caught his breath and she could feel him staring after her as she entered the ballroom alone. She hoped he was thinking of her tattoo.

Benton caught up to her, but he didn't try to take her arm. They were not a couple, and she wanted Miliardo to know it. He stayed slightly behind her. "Well done, princess."

Noin smiled. There was still a little magic in the air.


	13. A Magical Night II

****

Seaside Laboratory/Cinq Kingdom Conservatory

The knock at her door made Trynity jump.

"Trynity, are you ready yet?" Sally Po sounded impatient, but then this was the fourth time she had been to her room so it was understandable.

Taking a resigned deep breath, Trynity went to the door. Sally was standing with her back to the door and when it opened, she turned smiling, but it faded when she saw her.

"Where is your comb?" she demanded as she swept into the room. "Why didn't you ask for my help sooner?"

Because Trynity had tried to tame her own hair several times, but the curls wouldn't behave. Besides, what did she know about such things? Now Sally forced her into a chair before a mirror, and armed with hairpins, she attacked the corkscrew mass with a vengeance that almost brought tears to Trynity's eyes.

As Sally worked, Trynity stared at herself in the mirror. She had spent the day in the Shadowhawk finishing repairs and reviewing data. Late in the afternoon, she received a call from the Coalition.

"Miss Stryfe, I am pleased to see you at work!" The commander's black eyes were cold.

"It is dangerous to call," she pointed out. Her systems indicated intense radar sweeps, and Trynity guessed some astute intelligence officer was close to discovering the energy fluctuations that kept her gundam cloaked.

"Don't worry, Miss Stryfe. I happen to know my sub-space communications will go unnoticed." He laughed coolly.

"What do you want? I am busy!" Trynity reached out to close the transmission.

"Your father could tell you better than I." His face remained passive as her father's image appeared on another screen. Two uniformed men were holding him.

"Ah, Trynity!" Ivan Stryfe grinned at her although there was a bruise on his cheek. "You are looking well! Yes, very well!"

"Father! What did they do to you?" Her heart felt as if it were being squeezed.

"Oh, this little mark?" He rubbed the bruise and grimaced. "They didn't…" He didn't finish as his face turned a shade redder.

Trynity clenched her fists. Some stupid accident! Again! "Please be careful, father."

He chuckled for a moment, then sobered. "Trynity, I do want that information about the zero system. I have been very interested in the data from the other gundams, but the last one uses a system similar to the one we put in the Shadowhawk. I would like to know more."

Trynity stared at him without blinking. Was that it? "I will try."

He returned her stare now. They could say so much to each other.

They said nothing.

Trynity looked down at the control panel. Why did she expect more from Ivan Stryfe? His work had always come first, and the only way she could get his attention was to involve herself in that work. Now he had nothing to say to her, no questions about her well being.

"Did you reprogram the defensive systems?" Strike that! thought Trynity bitterly. They could always talk about his only child. And they did, for several minutes, discuss her improvements to the gundam before the Coalition commander abruptly ended the communication with her father. In mid-sentence he disappeared from the screen.

"I expect to hear from you within the next two days."

Trynity sighed now as Sally pinned up the last curl. She had left a few hanging around her face. Trynity barely recognized herself. Between the elegant white gown and the new hairstyle, she did not look like the girl she saw on those rare occasions when she glanced into a mirror.

Looking at Sally, she saw her smiling. "You are beautiful, Trynity Stryfe!" There was surprise in her voice. "Now let's get down to Duo before he leaves without you!"

Trynity had half-expected him to cancel their plans after the trick she had played on them all. The five boys had been forced to clean the dining room when Sally discovered the mess, but she had not spoken to Trynity about it. Trynity concluded that they strangely enough had not revealed her role in it, and it gave her an odd feeling inside.

After a short argument over her glasses in which Trynity was ordered to place them in her handbag, Sally took up the shoulder wrap for her silk and satin floor-length gown, and they took the elevator to the main floor.

Duo was standing with his hands in his pockets. When she stepped from the elevator, his mouth fell open and the flowers he held dropped to his feet.

Trynity must have looked as foolish as he did. She could not help but gape at him. Duo Maxwell could not be more handsome! He was dressed in white except for a black tie.

After a moment of silence, Sally laughed. "I will get my jacket, and we can be off." She handed Trynity's shoulder wrap to Duo who stared at it as if were some hyper-technical device.

They stood without speaking for a moment after Sally had gone, then Duo said," "Hey, we match!"

Trynity had no response. She suspected Prince Miliardo ordered it.

Duo shifted uncomfortably then remarked as he stepped forward with the wrap, "Sally doesn't trust us. She is our chaperone."

There was no stopping her blush. Duo didn't seem to notice as he draped the wrap over her shoulder. When he came to stand in front of her, Trynity looked up at his eyes and she was lost. Duo raised his hand to tuck back a curl that had already escaped its confinement. Trynity felt herself swaying toward him.

"Now we are ready!" Sally walked into the room, and Trynity snapped upright. Sally came to them, and without a word, she removed Trynity's wrap, turned it right side out, and raised a brow at Duo as she replaced it on Trynity's shoulders. 

The ride to the ballroom could not have been more uncomfortable. Trynity's nerves wound tighter and tighter the closer they came to the Cinq Kingdom Conservatory where the Stardust Ball was being held. Duo stared out the window, and Trynity followed his gaze to the moon. Sally was doing something on her computer. Although she was dressed formally, she had cleverly hooked a microphone to her necklace and had a plug in her ear to receive messages. But tonight Trynity was too distracted to wonder what exactly were Sally Po's duties for the Cinq Kingdom.

The limousine finally came to a stop, and Trynity did not wait for anyone to help her out. When the driver opened the door, she bolted out, tangling in the long skirt of her gown and almost colliding with Wufei before she righted herself. He looked at her with surprise. Her foolishness drew the glances of others headed into the Cinq Kingdom Conservatory.

Duo was suddenly at her side, his hand on her elbow to help her gain her balance. He was looking at Wufei. "So, what do you think, Chang Wufei?"

Wufei raised a brow as he appraised Trynity, then replied, "Appearances can be deceiving." With that sharply delivered comment, he presented his arm to Sally Po.

The car drove away to make way for another and Trynity was left with Duo Maxwell. Despite the many well-dressed young men and women, Trynity felt as if she were alone with him. This was crazy! She had better things to do than try to dance with this buffoon! Instead of making a fool of herself, she should be in the Shadowhawk, soaring the skies in search of her prey.

The music from the ballroom drifted outside through the open doors other young men and women were entering.

Duo held out his arm like a gentleman.

She couldn't keep her gloved hand from trembling as she put it on his arm. But when he started forward, she couldn't move. She was frozen to the spot.

Duo turned toward her. "Are we going in?"

Trynity stared at his tie and then shook her head. A curl fell forward, and she bit her lip to keep back her tears. This was stupid! What was she doing here?

He laid his other hand over hers. "We don't have to go in right away."

"What will Sally Po think?" Was that her silly, quivering voice? Trynity felt an inch taller with a considerable loss of intelligence.

Duo chuckled as he moved them away from the entrance and toward a garden. "Don't worry about Sally. Chang Wufei has that covered."

Trynity hoped Sally wasn't so tasteless to actually be attracted to Wufei.

The doors to the ballroom were open to the garden so they could still hear the music, and Trynity glanced inside to see their elegantly dressed classmates dancing. Her heart hammered as she watched the effortless movement of their feet.

"You really can't dance," guessed Duo, his voice soft and without mockery.

Trynity shook her head. There went another curl. "When and where should I have learned?" she asked bitterly, and almost laughed as she imagined her clumsy father twirling her about. They would have broken their necks tripping over wires and scraps of gundanium.

Duo chuckled and led her onto the sidewalk that curved as it meandered through the tree-shrouded Conservatory Park. They came to huge willow tree standing near a pond, and he stopped. The moon was full and bright, and its reflection shimmered on the water. For a moment, they both looked up at the moon.

"Do you miss space?" he asked quietly.

Trynity looked at Duo and saw that he was as homesick as she was. "The moon is a small dot from L10," she told him, leaving out the statistical data of the exact distance. "When I looked out my window, I saw Mars."

"I see Venus."

He was looking at her.

Trynity could not help but laugh. "Is that one of Quatre Raberba Winner's lines?"

Duo grinned. "I will let him use it." He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face her. "I did not fail dance class last semester. I got a sixty percent on the final test!"

Quite the recommendation, thought Trynity.

"Now, I will take your hand like so." He took one of her hands in his and raised it. "Put your hand on my shoulder." 

Trynity was nervous about doing so, but she gritted her teeth and laid her gloved hand on his shoulder. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest that she thought she would faint. When Duo put his hand on her waist, she almost jumped.

"Hey! I won't bite!" he teased. "At least not right now." And he grinned wickedly.

Trynity didn't want to speculate what he meant by that!

"Now, just move your feet and body with me."

The first try, she stumbled, and the second, he stepped on her feet and they both laughed. They didn't seem destined to dance together until halfway through the seventh try. Then Duo was sweeping her around on the dewy grass, and she felt as if she were floating in his arms.

As he swung her around and around to the music, Trynity dropped her head back and smiled up at the moon. She had died and gone to heaven.

But he suddenly stopped and she came up against him. No, Trynity decided as she looked up at his face, that this was heaven. He was looking into her eyes, and Trynity returned his gaze with a smile. He made a strange sound and leaned forward. She closed her eyes as his lips touched hers.

__

This was heaven!

Trynity ceased to think as he kissed her, and when he released her, she was dazed. She would have fallen had he not kept an arm around her waist.

"Is that part of dancing?" she heard herself ask breathlessly.

"Only with you, Trynity Stryfe." He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket. "I have gift for you." He took her hand and dropped in it a gold chain with a small charm.

Trynity stared at it for a moment. No one had ever given her a gift! She hardly dared touch it, but he was waiting, so she lifted the chain and dangled the charm to see it by the light of the moon. It appeared to be golden scythe. Her brows drew together in confusion, and then she remembered his sad attempt at poetry for Mrs. Drivel's class.

She glanced at him. "Mr. Maxwell, just what do you know about reaping?"

Duo took the necklace and went behind her. When he had finished clasping it around her neck, she reached up to touch the scythe.

He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her gently around. "You might be surprised, Miss Stryfe."

Trynity swayed into his arms, and Duo was kissing her again. She didn't care about the dance or the mission. She wanted to stay here in the moonlight in Duo Maxwell's embrace.

"Duo!" They both heard Quatre's call and moved apart.

"Duo! Trynity!" This time it was Heero's voice from a different direction.

Suddenly Trowa appeared from the dark. "Over here!"

The other two as well as a disgruntled Wufei appeared.

"Sally noticed that you two didn't follow us in," stated Wufei, his glare accusing them of spoiling his evening.

"So she sent us on a mission," said Heero.

"Mission accomplished," giggled Quatre and he looked from Duo to Trynity. Trynity was embarrassed by the knowing lift to his brows.

But Duo took her hand and squeezed it. She was surprised the small gesture had the power to reassure her. "I was giving Miss Stryfe a dance lesson."

"Failed dance class as well as cooking?" asked Heero with a frown. But there was amusement in his eyes, and she saw the others viewing her with the same camaraderie. 

There was a strange feeling in her heart as they looked at her. And she realized she belonged, that they accepted her. Trynity had found a home.

Trynity smiled at the group, and suddenly their smiles faded and their faces became foolish. They looked dazed. What was their problem now?

Duo frowned at them, then put his arm around Trynity's waist. "We are going in so Sally doesn't have to send out an Aries reconnaissance force to look for us." 

The pack followed them silently, and Duo held Trynity closer to him. Did she have to smile at them? Damn! He wanted to keep her smiles to himself. Now the secret was out!

When they stepped inside the ballroom, he immediately swept Trynity into a dance. After an initial stutter step, they flowed together with the music. Duo didn't like to dance, didn't do it very well. One of Hilde's complaints was that he refused to dance with her, and if she ever did get him on the dance floor, she regretted it later as she soaked her sore feet. But with Trynity, he felt as if he were dancing on air. There were no disapproving, annoyed frowns on her face. She was smiling up at him as they went around and around, and the happiness on her beautiful face made the rest of the room fade away. They were dancing alone on a cloud.

Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder, and Duo turned to see Trowa waiting politely for him to surrender Trynity. It was always the quiet ones! Duo had no choice but to step aside, but he muttered to Trowa, "Beware the god of death."

Trowa took his place, and Duo watched a moment to be sure he wasn't dancing too close, then drifted away to find the punchbowl. He was thirsty, and Trynity would be too after all the dancing - and the kissing. Duo couldn't wait to get back to the latter. He had never felt like that when he kissed Hilde.

When he reached the punch, Duo glanced around the ballroom. He spied Relena and Heero dancing and chuckled to himself. There was nothing funnier than watching Heero Yuy caving to Relena Peacecraft. Nothing, maybe, except seeing Quatre dance with Hilde. Dorothy was cutting in. Poor Hilde! Poor Quatre! Dorothy was leading.

Poor Hilde looked at him after being released by Quatre. Sighing, Duo set aside the punch he had poured and made his way to his ex-girlfriend. Just for tonight he would be chivalrous.

As they danced, she smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, Duo," she said, then added, "Where did you learn to dance so well?" 

Duo chuckled. "Miss Stryfe taught me."

They danced in silence for a moment, then Hilde said, "I forgive you Duo."

He wasn't paying attention to her. He saw that Trowa was a little too close to Trynity. Perhaps he needed to reacquaint him with his fist.

"Duo?"

Duo looked at Hilde. She was batting her long lashes at him. What the hell did she want now? "What did you say?"

"I said that I forgive you."

After a moment, understanding dawned on him. "What about Quatre?"

"He belongs to Dorothy Catalonia," she said. "And he's not worth losing blood over." She moved closer to Duo. "I know what we can do after the dance tonight."

"I am escorting Trynity," he reminded her.

"Sally can take her home."

Duo wanted to dump Hilde in the punch bowl they now sailed past. "I am taking Trynity home."

"Go ahead then. But I can pick you up later." She was looking intensely at him. "Remember, Duo? You, me and a blanket under the stars."

"In your dreams, Hilde." He suddenly released her and she stumbled into Quatre and Dorothy. As Dorothy swore, Duo walked away chuckling.

When the music came to an end, he got to Trynity with the punch. Trowa suddenly had Catherine attached to him, so Duo thought he might give Trowa a reprieve from his knuckles. 

Trynity barely finished the punch before the music began again. Duo turned to set aside their empty crystal cups, and when he turned back, Trynity was gone. He saw her dancing already with Quatre. That meant Hilde was on the loose, but she was no where in sight.

"Duo Maxwell."

He turned to see Dorothy glaring at him. His knees began to quake. "Dorothy Catalonia."

She held out her hand.

He wished he had a beam scythe.

Dorothy's smile was anything but pleasing. "Do I see the god of death trembling like a newborn kitten?"

"Yes!"

She seized his hand, and a slight altercation ensued as they fought for control, but Duo wasn't about to be lead around the dance floor by this wicked witch. He finally managed to subdue her, and forced her to dance with him in the lead.

Dorothy snarled.

Duo growled back at her and squeezed her waist. Hard. That would teach her! Duo Maxwell was not in the same league as Quatre Raberba Winner.

"OOOOhh!" Dorothy smiled wickedly. "The god of death is stronger than I thought!"

My God, she was frightening! But Duo forced himself to glare at her. To his disgust, she began to soften before his eyes until he could actually hear her purring. He had to get away. Now!

He looked away to see Trynity dancing with Chang Wufei. Wufei?! Were they now in some alternate universe? She was laughing at something he said! Wufei dipped her to the music! 

Dorothy followed his gaze and tried to dip Duo. They ended up on the floor in an embarrassing tangle. Quatre ditched Hilde to run to Dorothy's rescue, but she chased him off with a hiss. Duo tried to escape, but Dorothy seized his braid and jerked him back.

"Dance with me Duo Maxwell!"

"Dorothy!" whined Quatre.

Hilde stood by, tears in her eyes, her fists clenched as she sobbed.

Duo was saved from Dorothy Catalonia when Sally Po suddenly danced to a stop before them, and they were all treated to a scowl from her partner, Zechs Merquise.

"What is going on here?" demanded the prince. He was pissed, thought Duo.

Dorothy released Duo and stepped away. 

Sally sighed. "Duo, I can see now why I get so many calls from …Duo?"

Duo had ducked into the dancers, weaving this way and that until he came to a stop before Trynity and Wufei. He did not like the way Wufei was looking at Trynity Stryfe!

He reached out to tap Wufei on the shoulder, but the music came to an end. Wufei seemed surprised to see him hovering over them.

Before Duo could do something that would embarrass them all, Trynity put a hand on his arm. "Where is that punch?"

Duo looked at Wufei. "Get us some punch."

Wufei hesitated, but then Trynity smiled at him, and Wufei turned and left.

"Nice trick," commented Duo as he watched Wufei make a direct route to the punch bowl. He turned back to Trynity with his most charming smile as the music began again.

Unfortunately it was wasted on Relena Peacecraft. "Wipe that stupid grin off your face!"

Duo looked past Relena to see Trynity dancing with Heero. Damn! If he didn't dance with her soon, he was going back to the lab for Deathscythe to clear a path to his own date.

Relena was glaring at him, so with a sound of disgust, he drew her into a dance.

"This is your fault!" she complained. "Heero Yuy is supposed to be dancing with me, Trynity Stryfe with you."

Duo was as annoyed as Relena. He tried to keep an eye on Heero and Trynity as he danced with the princess. Heero spun Trynity and pulled her against him.

"He's a dead man!" muttered Duo.

"I get first crack at him!" added Relena.

Duo grinned at her. "Agreed!" There wouldn't be much left after she finished with Heero.

After a moment, she smiled at him. "You certainly look charming tonight!"

Duo lost track of Trynity and Heero. He noticed Wufei standing with two cups of punch and snorted with laughter. Relena laughed too.

"Where's Heero?" he asked. Relena had her own personal radar, so why should he bother straining his eyes to find him and Trynity?

"Who cares?" She was giving him a smile that made the contents of his stomach curdle. Relena suddenly flung herself against him, and he almost stumbled. "I never noticed how romantic you could be!"

"Who? Me?" Her arms were around his neck.

"Yes, Duo Maxwell, you!" She was stretching to kiss him. He leaned his head back away from her puckered lips. They were struggling.

Fortunately he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Thank God! Get this wench off me!" But he turned and had to raise his head upwards before he was looking at the very annoyed face of Miliardo Peacecraft.

Duo got away fast.

"Duo! Duo Maxwell!" He heard Relena call after him.

He _was_ stuck in another dimension.

**********

"Would you care for something to drink?"

Noin looked at Benton. "A glass of wine, thank you."

Her escort for the evening walked away, but she wasn't alone long before Sally Po came to stand beside her. "So here you are. Benton has been keeping you busy. How are you doing?"

Noin smiled at her friend. "Holding up very well although my plans have been shot to hell."

Sally laughed. "I see Zechs dancing with his sister."

"Yes, I believe he is scolding her. I noticed her inappropriate behavior with Duo Maxwell." Noin laughed. "Poor Duo."

"Duo can take care of himself," commented Sally. She was watching the dancers. "Does Miliardo know?"

"About what?" Noin knew exactly what she was asking but pretended otherwise.

"A certain iron maiden."

Noin looked at Sally. "Is it at Seaside already?"

Sally nodded.

Noin sought Miliardo in the crowd of dancers. He was difficult to miss as his platinum blond head was above all others. He was a king among men. She sighed. Lady Une had been monopolizing him all evening. Roxie Rivera was no wallflower, but she was tired of faceless young men falling over themselves to get the prince's leftover. Even sweet Benton was becoming tedious. Noin wanted to be in Miliardo's arms, moving with him to the music, but every time he started to approach her, some other woman, usually the vice-minister, stepped in his path.

"Having a good time, Miss Rivera?"

Noin didn't have to look to recognize Lady Une's voice. As she turned to look at her, Noin caught a sympathetic smile from Sally Po. "I am," she lied.

Lady Une held out her hand. "We have not been formally introduced. I am Vice-Minister Lady Une." 

Noin did not take her hand. She took malicious pleasure that Lady Une did not recognize her. Benton arrived with the wine, so Noin took a sip and continued to stare directly at her.

The other woman stared back.

Benton cleared his throat. "Vice Minister, may I have the honor of dancing with you?"

She looked at his outstretched hand, then raised a brow at him. "I don't settle for second best." Her contemptuous gaze slid to Noin, then came to rest on the frowning Sally Po. "Miss Po needs a partner."

Although neither wanted to leave, Benton had no choice but to take Sally onto the dance floor. Noin finished her wine and set the glass aside near her handbag.

"Those are lovely jewels," commented the vice-minister.

Noin smiled as she reached up to touch the rubies and diamonds at her throat. "They are Peacecraft jewels."

Lady Une re-turned her smile, but hers was false. 

"Borrowed for the evening? They are very striking with the gown."

"Thank you," murmured Noin.

"Of course, they will look much better with my darker coloring." Lady Une turned to watch Miliardo Peacecraft dance with his sister. "You might amuse him for now, Roxana Rivera, but he needs more than a witless bimbo to keep him satisfied."

Noin forced herself to laugh. "Some men prefer witless bimbos."

"I suppose Miliardo Peacecraft does have a weakness for such women." Lady Une laughed. "Lucrezia Noin, for example. She was quite promising as a soldier for OZ but her own agenda took precedence over any loyalty to OZ."

Noin was clenching her fists. Her handbag was on the table behind them, and the gun was loaded. She couldn't really shoot Lady Une, but fantasizing about it gave her pleasure.

"And what agenda do you believe Commander Noin had?" she asked calmly.

Lady Une smirked. "You didn't know her, did you? No, I suppose not with her suffocating Prince Miliardo so much that he had no chance to look elsewhere."

Noin congratulated herself on her self-control as Lady Une continued.

"Lucrezia Noin thought she could get Miliardo's attention by throwing herself in front of him and letting him walk on her. She made a fool of herself in her pursuit, but in the end, all she was to him was a subordinate, the babysitter of his sister, the one who would do his dirty work. Perhaps she had attained the status of a dear friend."

The other woman's words hurt her deeply. It was true that Miliardo had never shown her more than gratitude. And it was true that she would do anything for him. She would give her life to protect him and his dreams. But Noin had to believe in her heart that he felt more for her than dear friendship. He had to! She loved him!

Lady Une was smiling at her. "I'm sure a woman like you knows how to take care of herself when the party is over. I will be spending the night at the palace, my dear Miss Rivera. Don't bother waiting up for the prince."

Noin seized her handbag and walked away swearing, and she could hear the vice-minister laughing. Benton tried to talk to her, but she pushed past him and headed to the door to the garden. She needed air. She needed peace. She needed Miliardo.

There were young men and women hiding in the shadows of the park cuddling and kissing. There really should be some chaperones, she thought with annoyance as she kept walking. She did not stop until she could barely hear the music and she was standing at the edge of a pond. She watched the moonlight glimmer on the water, rippling with the gentle breeze. This is what she needed. The music was far away. Lady Une was far away.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you how beautiful you are tonight."

Noin turned to see Miliardo stepping from the shadows. He was wearing white like his wards. She wondered if they had planned it. Of course they had! Everything he did was carefully planned. Even her "death" had been used to his advantage, and Noin had done what he wanted then, sacrificing her dignity so that he could plot and plan in peace while the press had a field day watching her parade around half-naked. What did she get in return?

"Aren't you afraid Lady Une will find us together?" she asked although she had to fight tears. She was a fool!

"She won't find us," he said as he reached her. Even through she was looking through her tears, she saw Benton lurking further back, no doubt standing watch.

Noin turned away. "Go away," she whispered hoarsely.

"I am sorry the night isn't what we expected," he began.

"It's what I should have expected," she whispered, then to him she said, "Go back to Lady Une. She can be useful to your future plans."

"Lucrezia…"

"Go away or I will shoot you!"

Miliardo laughed. "You couldn't shoot me." But he heard the click and his gaze went to the gun she held in her hand, and his laughter died away. "Put that away! What are you doing with a gun?"

"Protection," she said bitterly. "Your protection."

"What has gotten into you, Lucrezia?" He ran a hand through his hair. "This isn't what I had planned for tonight."

"I am sorry I am foiling your plans."

"You should be."

Noin put the gun away. "I don't feel like shooting you tonight. I am going home. I have a headache." She stopped beside him. "Don't worry about me. I know how to take care of myself when the party is over." She looked up at his face. "Be careful with Lady Une. She is a threat to your Cinq Kingdom."

Then she left him behind.

Benton touched her arm when she reached him standing just out of hearing. "Well" he asked expectantly.

Noin reached into her purse and took out the small case. Then turning, she threw it and was pleased to hear it plop in the water of the pond. "Good night, lieutenant. Thank you for bringing me."

Benton saluted her.

**********

"This hair is a mess!" 

Trynity was just adjusting her gown in the restroom after finishing with her own hair when she heard Catherine Bloom's voice in the outer power room. "That jerk brought me here on his motorcycle and I haven't been able to do a thing with my hair all evening."

"And to think he's been spending the evening stalking Trynity Stryfe." Trynity recognized Dorothy's voice. Trynity would have felt foolish walking out now as they talked about her, so she stayed put.

"He's just being nice to her!" cried Catherine. "He is not stalking her!"

"I'm sure Sally Po told them all to dance with her." Trynity heard Relena say. "Why else would Wufei dance with her?"

They all giggled. Trynity didn't care what they thought. She was enjoying herself for the first time in her life. Trowa, Heero, Quatre, Wufei and Duo were treating her with more than mere tolerance. They were accepting her.

"Sally didn't say anything!" Trynity heard Quatre's voice. What was he doing in the ladies' powder room? She wasn't surprised though. "Dot, give me some powder. My nose is shiny!"

"Don't call me Dot or I'll twist your arm."

"Ouchies!"

The girls laughed and Trynity smothered her own laughter. She was about to enter the powder room, but she heard the outer door open.

"This ball sucks!" Hilde was obviously upset.

"You should have hung on to your own man instead of trying to steal mine!" snapped Dorothy.

"Shut up, you bitch!"

"Girls!" cried Quatre. "We can work this out!"

"No we can't!" they shouted at the same time.

So much for his garden! Again Trynity reached for the door handle, but she paused when Hilde spoke again. "I never realized Duo could be so polite. He certainly is taking his duty seriously tonight."

What duty? Trynity's hand fell away from the door.

"He had me fooled," commented Relena. "Cinderella is completely clue-less."

"Trynity is wearing a scythe," commented Quatre. "I saw it when we were dancing."

Trynity touched the charm at her throat.

"He never gave you a scythe, Hilde."

"Shut up, Dot!"

Trynity heard a slap.

"Girls!" Quatre again. Seemed the rose and the lily were fighting. 

"Sorry Hilde," she heard Dorothy say snidely. "I doubt Duo would find a black eye attractive!"

"So how far is Duo going to carry his duty tonight?" asked Catherine. "I wish he would just take her home."

"She is spoiling my night," agreed Relena.

"Someone should tell Duo to get her out of here," agreed Quatre.

"Jealous?" asked Dorothy.

"Of who? Duo?" Quatre laughed nervously. "Why should I be jealous of him?"

"Because he has guts," stated Dorothy. "I like a man with guts, a strong man who could tame me."

"I never realized that about you, Dot!" Then Quatre screeched in pain.

"So, who is going to tell Duo to dump Cinderella at the lab? I can't stand the sight of Miss Stryfe anymore," said Hilde.

"Rock, paper, scissors," suggested Quatre.

The girls groaned. "This is what got Duo into this mess in the first place," whined Relena.

Unable to stand any more, Trynity pushed the door open and stepped into the powder room. They turned to face her. "What are you talking about?"

There was no response as they stared at her dumbly.

Trynity clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "What did you mean?" she demanded of Hilde.

Relena answered. "My brother thought you should attend, so I had to find you an escort. It was between Chang Wufei and Duo Maxwell."

Trynity was trembling as she stared at them. "And?" She knew the answer before Hilde gave it.

"Duo lost."

Trynity couldn't believe it! How stupid could anyone be to lose to Chang Wufei? Duo Maxwell stupid, a new low in intelligence!

She shoved past them and marched out of the ladies room. Duo was standing near Trowa, Heero and Wufei who were, of all things, doing rock, paper, scissors! For what? she wondered bitterly as she approached. To see whom had to dance with her next?

Duo grinned at her.

"So," she demanded furiously, "did you lose already?"

The others stopped to look at her. "What do you mean?" asked Duo.

Trynity couldn't stop herself. She slapped his grinning face. "Paper beats rock, you stupid ass!" And she spun to run away. She was trembling with rage. Why were tears rolling down her cheeks? Duo was calling for her, so Trynity ran into the shrouded gardens, then managed to hide behind a tree as he went by.

"Trynity," he called.

When he went further into the park, she returned to the ball. She avoided Trowa, Heero, Wufei and Quatre. The girls were looking at her spitefully. Sally Po asked her what was wrong, but Trynity shoved past her and ran out the front doors. Unlike Cinderella, she didn't leave a shoe behind.

There was only one motorcycle in the parking lot. Trynity hot-wired it with ease and sped away. Catherine owed her some thanks for this. Trynity ditched the motorcycle not far from the cliff where Shadowhawk was resting. 

When she was finally seated in the cockpit, she burst into tears and sobbed into her hands. Why did she trust Duo Maxwell? Why did she think any of them would care about her? She wasn't one of them. She was just the unwanted ugly orphan from L10! She wished she were back on the scientific colony. She would never go back to Seaside. Never!

Trynity found some spare clothing and immediately jerked off the dress, tearing it in her anger. She thought about throwing Duo Maxwell's ridiculous gift into the sea, but she thought she would keep it to remind her not to trust anyone! Then Trynity stepped into her space suit. She was going home after this mission. Back to space.


	14. End to a Magical Night

****

Seaside Laboratory Gundam Hanger

"It is important for the pilot to concentrate on the battle."

Noin heard the note of admonishment in Howard's voice as she removed the visor from her eyes. She had borrowed some clothing from Sally Po's drawers and now sat in the cockpit of the Valkryie. Work might take her mind off her miserable personal life.

"Did I make a mistake?" she asked as she set aside the visor.

Howard sighed as he reviewed the data from the simulation she had run. "No, you did not, Commander, but you will admit that not all variables were accounted for in the simulation I prepared."

"Such as?" she raised a brow.

He brushed a thumb under her eye and it came back dark. Noin had forgotten to wipe her smudged makeup. "Pilots on the zero system don't have the luxury of crying over their insensitive princelings." He leaned close and looked into her eyes. "Do you know what your mission is, Lucrezia Noin?"

"Of course I do!" She put herself nose to nose with him. "Protect the Cinq Kingdom." She sat back and turned her attention back to the controls. As Howard explained operating the arms, she tried not to think about Lady Une and Miliardo, but failed miserably. Noin knew Miliardo Peacecraft wanted to withdraw the Cinq Kingdom from the World and Space Alliance. Despite the peace, there were reports of repression to opposition to the Alliance's dictates. Miliardo had anticipated such repression. He understood that ruling so many people of diverse cultures meant doing so with force. That was why he chose to hide the gundams rather than destroy them and to protect the young pilots while trying to humanize them. The gundams were essential to keeping his Cinq Kingdom independent once he withdrew it from the Alliance.

Lady Une was a threat because she clearly didn't trust the former Zechs Merquise. Noin had no right to complain about how Miliardo chose to deal with that threat. But she didn't need to be told or to hear again that she was nothing more than his friend. Noin felt foolish as she remembered all her failed attempts to seduce a man who clearly did not return her feelings.

She flipped on the scanners and just when she detected an energy fluctuation near the lab, there was a flash on the radar.

"Howard!" She contacted him through the telecom. He had already left to continue work on the Epyon. "Did you see something on the radar?"

"Indeed. Listen to this, Commander."

Now she heard a voice she would never forget on the communicator.

"Wing Zero, come out to fly with the hawk!" The Shadowhawk's pilot laughed and Noin shivered.

"Commander, you will have to move the Valkryie," Howard told her. "It's blocking the entrance. Heero Yuy will be here in a matter of minutes."

Noin was strapping into the Valkryie when the doors to the hanger opened and she saw a helicopter hovering. Heero Yuy allowed himself to be lowered halfway before leaping the rest of the way to the ground. Noin smiled as the elegantly white clad young man tossed off his jacket and loosened his tie and hopped on the cable to take him to the entrance of the Wing gundam. Relena Peacecraft must be furious. But the smile faded when she remembered Lady Une's presence at the ball.

"Howard, get that gundam out of the way!" shouted Heero as his gundam powered up.

Noin flipped the switches to activate the Valkryie. Its fluid movement amazed her as she left the hangar.

"Howard, who is piloting the Valkryie?" asked Heero.

"All in good time!" chuckled Howard and Noin smiled.

The Wing gundam stepped onto the beach and faced the Valkryie as if in challenge. Noin remained silent. Now more than ever she could not reveal herself, especially with the Shadowhawk in the skies above.

The Wing gundam blasted off. Noin monitored its progress, noting the location of the Shadowhawk almost a hundred kilometers away. But as Heero approached it, the dot representing the enemy gundam disappeared. She consulted the scope sweeping for anomalies in energy and quickly located the gundam.

"Howard, did you get a chance to make the modifications on the Wing gundam's sensors?"

"No, not yet."

"Can you see Shadowhawk on radar?" Noin already knew the answer.

"Not on the radar."

Noin realized she was the only person who could see it. "I have it on the energy scope. Heero can't see it. I am going up to help." She activated boosters and spread the Valkyrie's wings.

"No!" shouted Howard. "Don't do it!"

"Sorry, Howard. Heero needs me." She flipped off the communication from Howard, then blasted away. The Valkryie was easy to control, even easier than the Epyon. In a matter of minutes, she arrived to find the Wing gundam hanging indecisively in the air.

Noin expected it, but to see empty space where the energy scope indicated the shape of the Shadowhawk was unnerving. Without warning Heero, Noin raised her shield and directed lightening blasts at the object on her scope. For a split second, it appeared, then quickly disappeared.

"So you want to play?" The Shadowhawk pilot laughed. "How about tag? I guess I'm it!"

A burst of energy came from the void, and Noin raised her shield to deflect the pulsing stars. She checked the scope and saw the Shadowhawk moving. Fearing discovery, Noin scrambled her voice.

"Heero, it's behind you!"

Without questioning, the Wing gundam spun and sent a blast from the beam rifle. The Shadowhawk appeared and disappeared again. So it was having trouble maintaining the cloak and protecting itself at the same time! As Noin was congratulating herself on her discovery, the Shadowhawk reappeared swinging the flail. Noin didn't react fast enough and took a hit on the shoulder. The Wing gundam immediately attacked with its shield and followed up with the saber. The Shadowhawk was flickering now. 

Noin took the pike and swung, but the Shadowhawk darted out of reach. She swore. Her reaction time wasn't fast enough! Heero was attacking with almost no reaction, the Shadowhawk countering with the same. Noin was handicapped with her human reflexes. As she watched the Shadowhawk completely appear, Noin realized that together they could defeat the Shadowhawk! 

With no regard to the consequences, Noin flipped on the zero system. Although she had practiced with it on the simulator the night before while Miliardo slept off his excessive drinking and again this evening with Howard, Noin was unprepared for the shock of the actual waves pulsing through her brain. She fell back against the chair as her mind was filled with data, and she was finding it almost impossible to focus.

Howard's words came back to her suddenly. "It is important for the pilot to concentrate on the battle."

"Concentrate on the battle," she whispered.

The Valkryie charged the Shadowhawk and slashed across its chest with the pike, and passing by, turned and delivered a blow to its winged back. Heero slashed with the saber.

"Do you know your mission, Lucrezia Noin?" Howard's words were flowering through her mind.

"Protect the Cinq Kingdom!" she cried as she started toward the Shadowhawk again, the pike raised to spear.

"I must protect the Cinq Kingdom!" Noin thought of Lady Une. She was a threat! 

The Valkyrie suddenly rose high, spread its wings, then blasted away.

"Protect the Cinq Kingdom!"

"Valkryie pilot! What are you doing? Where are you going?" The voice was Heero Yuy. Noin barely heard it.

"Protect the Cinq Kingdom." She said softly. "Vice Minister Une is a threat to the Cinq Kingdom. She must be destroyed!"

Miliardo didn't return to the ballroom after Noin left. He stayed at the pond, staring at the reflection of the moon as he forced his nerves to calm. Noin didn't realize how difficult it had been to come to her. Lady Une had been amazingly easy to avoid, but Miliardo had little courage where Lucrezia Noin was concerned. Her devotion to duty was a stumbling block. He wanted more from her than that single-minded dedication to the Cinq Kingdom. She had helped him fulfill his life's ambition, but now that it was in his grasp, he felt empty. Only Noin could fill that emptiness.

But she was gone now, and without giving him a chance to speak to her, to tell Lucrezia Noin that she was part of his heart and to ask her to share his life. 

And she had pointed a gun at him!

"Trynity!" Miliardo turned to see Duo Maxwell approaching. "Hey, Zechs, did you see Trynity Stryfe run past here?"

Miliardo sighed. "In the first place, Maxwell, I'd like you to remember that I am Miliardo Peacecraft, not Zechs Merquise. And no, I have not seen her."

Duo shoved his hands in his pockets. "Women!"

Miliardo chuckled. "They are a mystery of the universe." They both laughed, then Miliardo asked, "Having trouble with Miss Stryfe? She looked very lovely tonight."

"Too lovely," grumbled Duo. Miliardo could sympathize. At how many men would he have liked to fire a beam rifle for touching Noin while he was forced to dance with others?

"I apologize for my sister's behavior," he said to the younger man. "And I appreciate that you brought Trynity to the ball."

Duo rubbed his cheek. "Damn, that hurt! What goes through a girl's head anyway? One minute we are in paradise, then next, whamo!"

Miliardo laughed. And the next minute she is pointing a gun at your heart. "If I knew the answer to that question, Duo Maxwell, I wouldn't be standing here with you."

A flash of lightening in the far distance drew his attention. "Looks like its going to rain."

Duo followed his gaze. "I don't think so."

Miliardo was startled when he saw bright flashes like explosives light the far sky. "What is that?"

A thin bright thread appeared.

"Beam rifle," said Duo.

Miliardo started back to the ballroom with Duo on his heels. Before he was out of the park, Sally Po caught him. There were soldiers already hustling the young men and women out of the gardens and into transport trucks.

"What is going on?" demanded Miliardo. "Why wasn't I informed?"

"Shadowhawk," Sally told him breathlessly. "I couldn't find you, so I made the decision to send Wing Zero myself."

"That is exactly what it wanted," Miliardo pointed out.

"Heero Yuy is our best pilot and the Wing is our strongest weapon." Sally put her hand up to her ear as she was receiving information. "My God! Howard, please tell me you are joking!"

Miliardo waited.

"Do what you can from your end. Get me Heero Yuy. Heero, leave the Shadowhawk. Your mission has changed." She glanced at Miliardo, then sighed and looked away. "Stop the Valkyrie."

"Stop the Valkyrie?" repeated Miliardo. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Sally Po looked at him. "There is no time to explain, Zechs. Get Lady Une out of here. Now!"

"Should I get the Deathscythe?" asked Duo anxiously.

"No. It's too late. Find Trynity and get her away from the conservatory."

As Duo ran back into the park calling her name, Sally took Miliardo's arm and dragged him toward the building. 

"What is the Valkryie doing here?" he demanded. The Valkyrie was supposed to be at the Dover Base where he last saw it two days ago.

Sally did not answer him. "Get Lady Une out of here."

Miliardo seized her shoulders and forced her to stop and look at him. "I am not taking another step until you tell me what is going on!"

An explosion in the sky startled them. He looked up to see the pale form of Wing Zero high in the sky with a darker shape Miliardo was dismayed to recognize. He watched the Wing gundam attack with the saber and the Valkryie parry with the pike, spinning it and smashing the Wing along the head.

"Sally?" he whispered hoarsely. He couldn't take his eyes from the duel in the sky.

Sally's voice was shaking. "Noin had the Valkyrie brought to Seaside."

"Noin?" There were screams as missiles exploded in the night sky. Miliardo watched the incredible speed of the fighting gundams and he knew without being told that the Valkyrie was using the zero system.

"By whose authority?" he asked.

Sally put her hand on his arm. "Yours." Then she added. "Yesterday."

When he was drunk? Howard would not have done such a thing without his consent. Miliardo now had a vague memory of speaking to Howard at the restaurant before Noin took him home. Noin, how could you do this to me, to us?

"Zechs, get Lady Une away." Sally's voice jolted him.

"Noin is up there, isn't she?" He watched the lightening flash, quickly followed up by the pike. The Wing gundam defended itself from the onslaught.

"Why is she here? Why isn't she fighting the Shadowhawk?"

"Howard, where is the Shadowhawk?" Sally listened for a moment, then told Miliardo, "Noin has the zero system in the Valkryie. She must have lost her concentration. Howard says she believes her mission is to protect the Cinq Kingdom and that Lady Une is the threat." She listened further. "The Shadowhawk has left the atmosphere."

"Contact Colonel Nelson and tell him to pursue," Miliardo ordered. He was torn and felt sick inside. Noin had to be stopped. She couldn't be allowed to kill Lady Une, but to stop her, the gundam would have to be destroyed and her with it. Millions who lived under his rule would suffer if Lady Une were killed in the Cinq Kingdom. The World and Space Alliance would be merciless in its retaliation.

If Noin were killed, only he would suffer.

Looking at Sally, he saw tears in her eyes. She knew what had to be done as well as he did.

Miliardo watched the battle raging in the sky, then said, "How soon can the other gundams get up there?"

Sally gave the order for 03, 04 and 05 to pursue and destroy the Valkyrie. She looked at Miliardo. "Trowa, Quatre and Wufei followed Heero back to Seaside anticipating action against the Shadowhawk." She put her hand on Miliardo's arm. "I am so sorry, Zechs."

"What is going on here?" demanded Lady Une as she approached.

Realizing that her communications were open to Seaside and probably monitored by the Valkryie, Sally quickly put her hand to her throat, but it was too late.

Missiles launched at the Wing gundam and as it defended itself, the Valkyrie spun to fire the lightening beams to the earth. Sally threw herself at Miliardo, knocking him to the ground, and the blast struck down trees and left the area engulfed in flames. Miliardo expected to see Vice Minister Une's charred remains, but she was lying several feet away from the impact, protected by Lieutenant Benton's body.

They all quickly scrambled to their feet, and Miliardo ran to seize Lady Une's arm. He looked briefly at Benton. "Good work, Colonel."

Benton's eyes widened, and he saluted.

Miliardo saw the Valkyrie diving for another attack, but it was cut off by the arrival of gundam 03. It unloaded hundreds of rounds of hot bullets into the Valkyrie's back, but its wings had quickly folded in to protect it. She was a damn good pilot, thought Miliardo, and the suit had been designed to bring out the best in Lucrezia Noin. Taking it down would be difficult and bloody.

"What is going on?" demanded Lady Une. Her eyes widened as she watched the fight in the sky. "Those are gundams!"

Gundam 04 charged out of the night sky with charged shotels bearing down on the Valkryie. Miliardo looked away, heard the blast of missiles, and didn't know who to pray for.

"Explain, Zechs Merquise," Lady Une shouted at him.

"You can have my damn report tomorrow!" said Miliardo through gritted teeth. "That is, if you are still alive." He grabbed her arm and dragged her through the ballroom. That the soldiers had efficiently evacuated the dance was nothing short of a miracle. Explosions from outside echoed eerily in the huge, empty building. 

Noin! His heart was broken. Miliardo didn't want to live without her, and yet he knew he must.

They burst out the front entrance just in time to see the Wing gundam crash to the earth shuddering from a blast from the charged tip of the Valkryie pike. The Valkryie slashed at the blasting Heavyarms, knocking it into the

Sandrock gundam, then launched missiles at both. As they tumbled away, the Valkryie dropped gracefully to the ground, landing atop and crushing Vice Minister Une's limousine.

Miliardo and Lady Une stood beneath the towering gundam. Behind them Wing was rising from the crushed ballroom. Fire raged everywhere and destroyed pipes were exploding. Sandrock and Heavyarms returned, but held fire because Miliardo was in danger of being hit with their attack.

The Valkryie raised its pike and began to thrust down, but Miliardo stepped in front of Lady Une. He would rather die than watch what would happen to Noin. 

The glowing, pulsating tip stopped above his heart. His body hummed with the energy that it threw off. He could smell his hair singeing.

"My mission is to protect the Cinq Kingdom." The voice was disguised, but he knew it was Noin. The heat radiating from the tip made him feel faint.

"What is it talking about?" demanded Lady Une who stayed hidden behind him.

Miliardo looked upwards. Did Noin see him? If she did, could she recognize him?

"Put away your weapon. There is no danger here."

"Step aside. The threat is behind you. I must destroy."

He did not move.

"My mission is to protect the Cinq Kingdom. Step aside," and she paused, "or I will destroy you."

"Don't even think of moving," snarled Lady Une and he felt the barrel of a pistol jammed into his back. "If you so much as itch, Zechs Merquise, I will blow you in half."

Bitch! he thought angrily. What kind of dishonorable man did she think he was?

But he did not betray his danger to Noin. Instead he stared upward, willing her to look at him. "You won't hurt me," he said. "You cannot."

The pike jerked back as if preparing for a downthrust.

Suddenly over the trees came the two heads of the Altron gundam. Miliardo would never know if Noin would have thrust the pike downward. The dragon claws clamped onto the Valkryie and lifted it away. Noin did not fight it. The other gundams blasted after it, and Miliardo realized Sally must have issued new orders to the pilots or he would have seen it destroyed here and now. He felt such intense relief that he almost dropped to his knees.

The gun was still in his back. "Now, I think you have an explanation to make, and I have no intention of waiting for your report in the morning."

"I'm afraid you will have to," he heard Sally Po say. Then Lady Une's body crumpled to his feet

Turning he saw Sally put her gun away, and she smiled at him. "Is there a promotion in this for me?"


	15. Fireworks over the Sahara

****

Royal Palace, Cinq Kingdom

"Two weeks and no sign of Miss Stryfe?"

Sally Po sadly shook her head. "We have no where else to look. We know that she took Trowa Barton's motorcycle and left the conservatory long before the attack. We can only speculate what happened next, and I fear any scenario does not look good for Trynity Stryfe. If she ran away, she left with only the clothing on her back."

"Interesting choice of apparel," commented Miliardo as he steepled his fingers and leaned his elbows on the desk. He didn't believe for one moment that Trynity Stryfe had disappeared into thin air like the Shadowhawk, but he didn't voice his suspicions to Sally. The facts remained consistent. The Shadowhawk was gone. Trynity Stryfe was gone.

"Duo thinks she may have gone back to outer space," she said.

"I doubt you will find record of her on any shuttle," he told her. No doubt the Shadowhawk had picked her up. Ivan Stryfe was without question behind the gundam's existence. After the debacle at the conservatory, Dr. J had come to Miliardo and confidentially confessed to attempting to steal Ivan Stryfe's work. He had done extensive research in bending energy, hence the many explosions that occurred in his laboratories. What little he had managed to glean from Stryfe he had incorporated in his gundam design. The only question in Miliardo's mind was how involved Trynity was or whether she was now being used against her father. 

"There are still two weeks left of school break," Sally was saying. "Duo wants to go to space to look for her."

"I have already asked Colonel Nelson to look into her whereabouts," Miliardo told her. Nelson would find nothing. "I do not want Duo Maxwell leaving Earth. The Coalition is gaining strength, and we don't want to risk his safety on a futile search."

"But your Excellency…" she started before he interrupted her.

"I have given my answer. Duo Maxwell stays on Earth."

Sally sighed. "I am sorry, but I had to try. He is nursing quite a heart break."

Better a little heartache than having a pile of ashes left in your chest by the blaze of deceit. "I will talk to Maxwell myself about the matter."

Sally's gaze shifted for moment, and then she looked back at him with an uncertain smile. "There is someone here who wishes to speak to you."

Miliardo pressed the button to shut off her transmission, then stared at the blank screen of the telecom. That ache in his chest made him feel like a wounded animal and he wanted to strike out. His anger and hurt was irrepressible, even after two weeks. Now he shouted angrily and swept his arm across his desk, sending the telecom crashing against the wall, his papers scattering over the floor.

The door opened and Benton stepped in as the last few papers floated to the floor. He did not so much as raise a brow at the mess Miliardo had made. "Your Excellency, Colonel Nelson is waiting in the salon."

Miliardo was staring at the broken telecom. "I will need another."

Benton chuckled. "It won't help, your Excellency. Break as many as you wish, but in the end you will have to actually fix what is really broken."

"When I want your advice, Colonel Benton, I will ask for it." Miliardo followed him out of the office. By the anxious looks on the faces of the staff they passed on the way to the salon, he knew he was scowling. Again. As usual.

"Will you be visiting Vice Minister Une today?" asked Benton as they neared the salon. "She is feeling much better and I heard she was out of bed." 

Miliardo sighed. "I will not have time. Take my regrets to the Vice-Minister."

Benton nodded and opened the door.

Stepping in, Miliardo was annoyed to see his sister serving tea to the head of the Cinq Kingdom Space Security Operations. Nelson was listening to Relena with a polite smile.

"…And now that Roxie Rivera has dropped off the face of the Earth, I have compiled a list of young women who are more suitable for my brother to escort. Do you have any suggestions?"

"I would be interested in his suggestions also," said Miliardo with a half-smile. As he and Nelson shook hands, Relena's cheeks turned bright pink.

"Will you be joining us for tea?" she asked.

Miliardo raised a brow. Did she think Nelson came to Earth for tea with Relena Peacecraft? He almost laughed as he joined her on the stiff, elegant sofa opposite the chair occupied by Nelson. A tea service was set on the small table between them. "Will one of those young women be joining us?" he asked Relena.

Colonel Nelson stood again, his eyes on the doorway, and Miliardo feared that Relena had invited one of her acceptable prospects. But turning and standing politely, he was both relieved and unnerved to see Lady Une entering the salon. What was she up to?

"Vice Minister Une!" Nelson crossed the room to take her arm. "Should you be out of bed?"

She seemed so fragile.

Miliardo hoped Benton had checked her for weapons.

Lady Une smiled up at Nelson. "I am feeling much better today." Lady Une smiled at Miliardo. "I waited for your visit, and when Colonel Benton informed me you would be detained, I decided to join you."

"Will you have tea?" asked Relena, then proceeded to pour them all tea. They chatted amiably about the weather; the official royal schedule and then Relena began a lengthy discourse on her vacation activities. Smart girl, thought Miliardo as she rambled on about shopping and going to the beach with Heero Yuy. She had an inexhaustible supply of Heero Yuy stories. As he sipped his tea, Miliardo pitied the young man. Although he had been an assassin, Heero Yuy was showing incredible restraint where his sister was concerned. A weaker man would have put a bullet between her eyes already. 

Miliardo watched Lady Une over the rim of his teacup. For the last ten days she had remained at the palace drugged and subject to intense hypnotic suggestion to purge her of memories of the attack on the conservatory. While he did not like using such methods, there was no other way to ensure her silence. Unless Lady Une was a highly skilled actress, the aftereffects of their brainwashing left her with only the official explanation of the explosions at the conservatory. 

The news agencies reported that a terrorist group had attempted to kill Miliardo Peacecraft. The same group had killed Commander Noin over a month ago. Instead of the disasters that would overturn his government and cause his execution for treason to the World and Space Alliance, these 'attempts on his life' actually turned public opinion in his favor. There was outrage that the terrorists would attempt to kill the ruling prince. His opposition in the Cinq Kingdom Assembly was forced into silence as the airwaves were overrun with accounts of his bravery against the unidentified mobile suit. Even bungling as she had, Noin managed to make him look good.

Lady Une's soft laugh drew his attention and he realized he had spilled his tea. Relena took a napkin to the spill. "My dear Miliardo, I believe you need to use a sippy cup. You are always spilling."

Miliardo stared at her blankly. A reference to the limousine ride? What else did she remember? "I was distracted," he confessed. He turned to Nelson. "Do you have any news of Trynity Stryfe?"

"I am afraid I do not. She must still be on earth. There is no record of her landing at any colony shuttle port, and she could not have escaped detection." Nelson's gaze was unblinking.

Lady Une looked from one man to the other. "Perhaps she was killed at the conservatory?"

"She left before the explosion," said Relena. She was looking guilty. Well she should, thought Miliardo as he remembered her confession about her selfish and jealous behavior towards Miss Stryfe. 

"I am sorry one of your wards has disappeared," commented Lady Une. She sipped her tea. "How are the others getting along in school? I have heard plenty about Heero Yuy."

Relena dived in with lengthy descriptions of Trowa Barton, Quatre Winner, Chang Wufei and Duo Maxwell. Lady Une listened with intense interest. When she finished, Lady Une turned back to Miliardo. "Is your little experiment with these hardened street orphans a success? I am not sure letting them loose to attend school with the Cinq Kingdom elite is a smart idea."

"The worst they have done is wreck Miss Dimster's teddy bear," reported Relena.

Colonel Nelson chuckled. "From gutters and guerilla warfare to teddy bears. I think you can consider that a success." He smiled at Miliardo. There was no warmth in that smile.

Lady Une set aside her cup. "I am feeling very tired," she commented. Her brown eyes fixed on Miliardo.

Having no choice, he escorted her from the room to the extravagant suite that had become her residence in the Cinq Kingdom. She leaned against him as they walked, and when she stumbled, Miliardo was forced to lift her and carry her the rest of the way. 

When he laid her on the bed, she held his arms so that he could not escape. "Stay with me for a while," she said breathlessly.

Miliardo gently pried her fingers from his arm. "I have duties to attend to."

She fell back against her pillows and regarded him with half-closed eyes. "You are an obstinate man, Miliardo Peacecraft. Now I see why Noin had so much trouble with you."

He started toward the door. "I have much to do."

"What is wrong, Miliardo? I am only asking for a little amusement in the afternoon." She propped herself up on her elbows. "I am bored."

Miliardo turned around to look at her. "If you wish, Benton can escort you…"

Lady Une made a sound of disgust. "Benton is Noin's creature! Even from the grave she controls your life." She folded her arms and pouted as she regarded him. "Forget Noin. Spend time with me."

He wasn't tempted in the least.

"Well," she sighed, "at least I got rid of that actress. Just as I told her, she would go on without you."

"What are you talking about?" asked Miliardo as he took a step toward her. "When did you speak to her?"

"At the ball," stated Lady Une. "She was a very sensible young woman. I think she understood there was no place in your life for her. Her physical resemblance to Noin was amazing, so I understood your attraction to her. But I think you should stop regretting what you could have had with Noin when she was alive. Removing Roxie Rivera is the first step."

"I have much to do." He needed to get away from her before he put his hands around her scrawny neck.

"I shall see you later?"

He raised a brow. "I have plans to visit Seaside Laboratory." He hadn't, but he did now.

"I will wait up for you," she said softly.

When he returned to the salon, Relena seemed relieved. He thanked her for entertaining Colonel Nelson, and before she left, she whispered in his ear.

"Lady Une is not on my list!"

Miliardo smiled and watched her leave before turning back to Nelson. "I am sorry for the social niceties that you had to endure."

"Not a problem." He chuckled. "Your sister is a handful. To have her and Vice Minister Une under your roof must be a challenge." 

Benton slipped into the room, and for some reason, Miliardo was glad. Nelson glanced at him, then looked at Miliardo. Miliardo smiled. "I am sorry if you are offended, but after the attempts on my life, I cannot be too careful."

Nelson raised a brow. "We are discussing the Shadowhawk, are we not? I understood that gundam left Earth's atmosphere before the attack on the conservatory."

What did Nelson know? What did Miliardo want him to know?

"Do you have something a little stronger than tea?"

Benton didn't need to be told. He produced two glasses of whiskey. Miliardo hadn't been drunk since that fateful afternoon when Noin destroyed his trust in her. He didn't plan on drinking too much now. 

Nelson swallowed half his glass, then regarded Miliardo. "My intelligence reports indicate that a different gundam attacked the conservatory and battled three of yours. Do you believe it was working with the Shadowhawk?"

It would be easy to lie to Nelson, but Miliardo could not afford to lose him. Nelson was a superior officer with an exemplary record. He had known him too long to play games with him. They had trained together along with Noin, and he owed him some honesty. Noin had even trained his younger brother at the Lake Victoria base. "The gundam was from my laboratory. The pilot was fighting the Shadowhawk and had problems using the zero system."

"A dangerous system," commented Nelson. "It takes a well-trained mind to master it." He drank more of the whiskey. "And the pilot?"

"The pilot will not be stepping into that gundam for a very long time, if ever." That much was true. Noin couldn't be trusted. "It is called the Valkyrie and was designed for Noin."

There was a moment of silence as Nelson contemplated his whiskey. Miliardo knew he was thinking about Noin by the sadness of his expression. 

Then Nelson sighed. "Now you have a gundam without a qualified pilot." He looked at him. "You are aware that my younger brother was an accomplished Aries pilot and distinguished himself with the Taurus suits in space." He was watching Miliardo. "Lars was one of Noin's students. Unfortunately his career skidded to a halt when he made some bad alliances in space. He fell in with an unsavory group."

Miliardo knew the story. Noin had been disappointed that Lars Nelson had betrayed his corps, causing many men and women to be killed in a trap he had set for them. Lars had befriended the true Trowa Barton and became tangled in the designs of the Barton Foundation. Since the dismantling of Dekim Barton's plans, Miliardo did not know what had become of Lars Nelson.

"My brother was being trained to pilot gundam 06 before the explosion at L10," Nelson told Miliardo as if reading his mind. "It would be a shame to waste his training, both Noin's and the Barton Foundation."

His meaning was clear. Nelson wanted his brother to be considered to pilot the Valkyrie. Miliardo could not imagine anyone other than Noin sitting in that gundam. "I shall give it some thought."

"If you wish, I can arrange for him to prove to you his capabilities. Perhaps you can take some time to come to space."

Benton cleared his throat.

Miliardo smiled. "I have a very full schedule."

"You cannot afford to lose an opportunity like this," said Nelson. "My brother has been fully trained. You have two gundams without pilots. With Noin dead, the Epyon will need a pilot also and there are others in my unit who could be considered candidates."

"The Epyon is my gundam," stated Miliardo.

Nelson seemed surprised. "You don't plan on piloting again, do you? You have a kingdom to rule."

"The next time the Shadowhawk attacks, I have no intention of sitting by without acting." Miliardo set aside his glass and looked at Nelson. "Your men allowed the Shadowhawk to pass right past them after it left Earth's atmosphere. You have not given me an adequate explanation."

"The Shadowhawk was not visible to my troops."

"Yet it was able to destroy two dozen Leos, and a dozen Taurus suits. I cannot believe our space pilots are that incompetent."

"What are you suggesting?" demanded Nelson as he rose to his feet.

Miliardo stood. "That you have not given this problem the attention it deserves."

"Me? What of you?" Nelson was furious. "Between your women how do you find time to rule the Cinq Kingdom?" 

They glared at each other for a moment, and then Nelson sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I beg your pardon, your Excellency. I shouldn't have said that."

Miliardo reached out to put his hand on his shoulder. "You were right, Lionel. I have been distracted. I had no right to lash out at you. Tonight I plan to settle my distraction once and for all."

Nelson grinned. "Big plans for Lady Une?"

His stomach churned. "Not quite." He noticed Benton grinning from ear to ear. For the first time in many days he felt as if a weight lifted from his chest. His little talk with the grasping Lady Une could be thanked for his change in attitude. Noin would hate owing anything to the Vice-Minister.

When Nelson left, Miliardo looked at Benton. "Check my schedule and clear it of any engagement. I don't care how important."

"Yes, sir." 

Miliardo smiled at him. "Is she still under house arrest?"

Benton chuckled as he nodded.

****

Seaside Laboratory

"Serve the damn ball!"

"I have to concentrate!" It was Quatre's whiny voice. The delay in the beach volleyball game was annoying Wufei. Noin didn't bother to raise her hat to watch them. Listening was bad enough.

"Serve the ball or I'm going to cram it down your throat."

Noin couldn't resist. She peeked from under her hat and saw Dorothy shove the net up to stalk across the sand toward Quatre who stood with the volleyball positioned before his face.

"Serve!" she barked.

Quatre did and the ball bounced off Dorothy.

"Good one!" laughed Duo until Dorothy grabbed the ball and spiked him with it.

Noin laughed as Duo spun and fell in the sand. It was good to see him having fun. 

But Hilde shrieked and ran to him. "You gave him a bloody nose, you hag!"

"Is that all? I must be losing my touch!" Dorothy tossed back her long blond hair and returned to her side of the net where she received a high five from Wufei.

Duo shoved Hilde's hands away. "Get off me! I can take care of myself." He jumped to his feet, then stalked away from Hilde who watched him go with a lost look on her face. A part of Noin understood how Hilde felt.

She was about to push her hat back down so that she could doze, but Duo was headed her way. The others drifted to their towels, the game over. Soon Trowa was forced to apply sunscreen to Catherine. Quatre was hiding his pale complexion under a huge umbrella while Dorothy stretched out on a towel beside him in the sun. Hilde shook out two towels and sat on one.

Duo dropped in the sand beside Noin. He wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. 

"I think someone is waiting for you." Noin nodded toward Hilde.

Duo didn't even look in that direction. "Hey, she dumped me! I don't want her back."

Noin sighed and laid back. She closed her eyes and put the hat over her face. "Go away, Duo."

"For a prisoner, you have some nerve telling me what to do!" But Duo laughed. He peeked under her hat.

Noin glared at him. "I'm not in the mood, Duo Maxwell, for your silliness. Now go away."

Duo ignored her order. "Hey, Commander, I need you to do something for me."

Noin propped up on her elbows. "As you pointed out, I am a prisoner. I am under house arrest."

Duo snorted. "You? Ha! Prince Charming will come to his senses. Hey, we all got a chance to wig out on the good old zero system. Nothing shameful about that!"

She wanted to kick the young man grinning at her. "Go away! I don't need to be reminded!"

Heero dropped to the sand on the other side of her. "Freedom never felt so good!"

"I wouldn't know!" snapped Noin as she laid back. This was punishment indeed! 

Heero chuckled. "I was talking about freedom from Relena Peacecraft. She stayed at the palace to entertain Colonel Nelson."

"Nelson is on Earth?" Noin sat up. She would ask Sally later and hope that Miliardo did not order her to keep information from her. Noin hated this separation from her duties as well as Miliardo. They were intertwined although she would have liked differently.

"You know Nelson pretty well," commented Wufei as he sat by her.

So much for a quiet afternoon! She noticed Trowa and Catherine rolling around in the sand and couldn't figure if out what they were doing was mutual or whether Catherine was attacking. Should she say something? It was really none of her business.

"Hey!" shouted Duo as if he had read Noin's mind. "You two get a room!"

As Catherine dragged Trowa away, Noin heard Quatre begging Dorothy to put sunscreen on him. Now that was a strange relationship!

"Nelson's report stated that the Shadowhawk was cloaked when it reached space," Heero was saying.

"He's lying!" exclaimed Wufei angrily. "I saw it with my own eyes as it left. It was damaged and it was not cloaked."

Noin sighed. "We have to believe Lionel Nelson. I trained with him under Treize Kushranada. I have known him a very long time. He is an excellent soldier and pilot. He, Zechs and I rose in the OZ ranks together and when Zechs and I left to rebuild the Cinq Kingdom, he chose to join us. We trust him."

"Noin, you were there." stated Heero quietly.

"Don't remind me!" She glared at him.

Heero smiled. "You kicked my ass pretty well!"

Noin laughed. "I guess you need a little more training Heero Yuy! Actually, I barely remember anything. The Valkyrie must have walloped you on her own." Then her smile faded and tears threatened to spill over her lashes. It wasn't true! She did remember! She would never forget Miliardo standing before Lady Une, protecting the vice-minister from the Valkyrie. And the helpless feeling she had when she realized she had no control over the gundam would never fade from her memory. The Valkyrie would have taken Miliardo's life.

"Will someone please put this sunscreen on my back!" Quatre was standing above her. "I'm getting pink!"

Noin grabbed the bottle from him as she sat up, and Quatre wriggled onto the towel in front of her. "You know, commander, you didn't kill anyone. Just scared the crap out of one or two of us."

"Unlike Quatre," muttered Wufei.

Quatre glared at him.

"Hey, we aren't going to get into the stupid things we did during the war," interrupted Duo.

"A very good suggestion," said Noin as she rubbed sunscreen on Quatre's back and shoulders. He really should eat more, she thought. "Soldiers can't dwell on the mistakes made in the heat of battle."

"You should listen to your own advice, commander Noin." Trowa dropped cross-legged beside Heero.

Heero looked at him. "Where's Catherine?"

Trowa smirked.

Noin didn't speculate what that meant, but she did wonder what Catherine's secret was. The girl seemed to have Trowa Barton on demand. 

"You put some good moves on the Shadowhawk," commented Heero. He was staring at her intensely. "Perhaps if I ask Prince Miliardo, he would allow you to go to the Sahara to train against me."

"Prince Miliardo can't even hear my name without self-detonating," she snapped. Benton was kind enough to keep her informed. As for Noin, she would never forget stumbling shaking and distressed from inside the Valkryie only to have Sally Po serving her with a warrant for her arrest on the grounds of treason. Noin deserved it, yet to see Miliardo's signature on the order broke her heart. All she had wanted to do was to protect him and she had tried to kill him. Noin had been relegated to a subordinate who had disobeyed him and forged his orders.

Duo sighed loudly. "I was hoping you would speak to Zechs on my behalf," he said.

Noin laughed. "Do you want to be arrested as my co-conspirator?"

"Why not? He won't let me leave anyway!"

"Not this again!" snapped Wufei.

"I wouldn't mind finding Miss Stryfe myself," remarked Trowa. "She messed up my cycle."

"I say good riddance." Wufei again. Noin found his attitude tiring. Sally should work on softening him.

"I was starting to like her."

Everyone looked at Heero. "She was a challenging opponent. No one has ever defeated me. I would like the chance to take on the victorious Zorbon knight again."

They were stunned silent for a moment, then Quatre said, "I liked how she didn't take our crap."

"She was intelligent," remarked Wufei grudgingly.

"I miss her scowling at us over breakfast," remarked Trowa.

Duo sighed. "She had a heavenly smile."

Now they all got a dreamy look on their faces and Noin almost laughed. Then they were staring at her expectantly, and Duo looked like a begging puppy. "What do you want me to do?"

"Duo knows all the nooks and crannies of the colonies," commented Heero.

"Just bat your pretty long lashes at the prince and ask him to let Duo go into space," suggested Quatre, turning to face her.

"That won't work," Noin told him. "He's furious with me."

"Then strut your Roxie stuff." 

Trowa didn't need to wink for her to know what he implied. Noin felt a blush heat her face. Roxie Rivera was behind her, gone forever. Sally had helped her color her hair again so that she looked like herself, and Noin had ordered almost everything in Roxie's apartment disposed of. None of it had done her any good anyway.

They were waiting for her answer.

Noin snorted. "That is less likely to work than your first method."

They stared at her incredulously.

Duo scratched his head. "Has anyone ever checked to see if Miliardo Peacecraft has an engine?"

They looked at Noin again.

She grimaced. "Sorry, guys, but I haven't even been able to pop the hood." Noin gathered up her things. This conversation was getting a bit too personal. "I'm going somewhere for some peace and quiet."

Duo watched her leave with disappointment. He had hoped Noin could persuade Zechs to change his mind about leaving Earth to look for Trynity. Duo was certain Trynity had gone back to L10 even if it was deserted. He couldn't stand the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach when he imagined her alone in the abandoned scientific station, far from civilization.

He noticed Hilde watching him. When she got up, the guys scattered, Quatre returning to Dorothy, Heero and Trowa went into the water and Wufei followed Noin into the gundam hanger. He was on his own now.

Hilde sat by him. "Do you have any plans for tonight?"

"No." He refused to look at her. Sally had demanded to know what had made Trynity explode at the Stardust Ball and Quatre had squealed like a pig about what Relena and Hilde had revealed to her. Hilde didn't deserve any kindness.

She put her hand on his arm. "We could go see a movie."

Duo shook off her arm. "No, we can't."

Hilde sniffled. Duo didn't care if she was crying, but she threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. "I miss you, Duo!"

"Hey! You're getting snot all over me." Duo shoved her away and stood. He brushed the sand off his shorts. "Don't worry, Hilde. There's gotta be some guy out there for you. It just ain't me."

Duo ignored Hilde's calls for him to return. He went to the gundam hanger after keying the code on the lock. The hanger was eerily quiet. The technicians were at supper, and the scientists were attending a meeting to discuss the modifications they were making to each gundam to prepare for future attacks of the Shadowhawk. 

When Duo was settled into the comfortable cockpit of the Deathscythe, he mumbled, "It's not like I am asking him if I could take you to space. Sorry, buddy, but I would have to go by shuttle."

He flipped on monitors. "I think Prince Uptight Peacecraft needs a little action." Duo pressed a button on the telecom. "Hey, Noin, are you in the Valkryie?" No response, but the communicator flashed off. Duo chuckled. Princess Uptight needed a little action too. He leaned forward to look at the sinister shadow of the Epyon in a far corner near the Altron. It was finished, repaired and upgraded. How could that be used to his advantage?

Shrugging, Duo began to review data about the L10 scientific station. One name stood out. Lars Nelson. He remembered Trynity mentioning the pilot, and Duo noted that Nelson had been at the station for six lunar months. Maybe Nelson knew something about Trynity Stryfe that would give Duo some clue as to her whereabouts.

Discovering that Nelson was assigned to Space Operations of the Cinq Kingdom under the command of his brother, Duo contacted the base on the moon to speak to him. The younger Nelson was on training maneuvers, but the transmission was relayed to his Taurus suit.

The pilot's face appeared on Duo's screen. It was nice to be able to pull strings, thought Duo. Being under the protection of the Cinq Kingdom's ruler definitely had its advantages.

"What can I do for you, Duo Maxwell?"

"I am sorry to disturb you."

"Whatever I can do for one of Prince Miliardo's ward, I will be happy to do."

Duo saw the smile on his lips, but it never reached Lars Nelson's dark eyes. He gave Duo the willies. "I am investigating Dr. Ivan Stryfe for a report for school," he lied. "I know that you were stationed there and must have known him personally."

"I was training to pilot Gundam 06."

Duo couldn't imagine Lars Nelson in a gundam. It was bad enough to have to work alongside Chang Wufei! "Hey, that sounds like hard work!" He grinned stupidly at the pilot.

Nelson smiled politely. "What do you really want, Duo Maxwell? Trynity Stryfe could have told you all you wanted to know about her father when she was staying at your little orphanage."

Duo scratched his head. "Okay, so you got me! I'm looking for Trynity. Did she have any family beside her father?"

"Her father had none. Her mother and her family were all killed during a raid by OZ on Colony L6. They managed to pull her out of the rubble barely alive. So in answer to your question, she had no family but Dr. Stryfe."

Duo didn't know that about Trynity. He doubted she would want his pity. "So all she had was her father," he mumbled.

"She adored that fool." Nelson smiled and Duo felt the hairs rise at the back of his neck. He leaned closer to the screen, and one of his black brows raised. "Trynity was quite amusing during my stay at L10. Did you find her as…amusing?"

Without realizing what he was doing, Duo pressed a button to activate the beam scythe. "Oops!"

"Duo!" It was Noin. "What are you doing? You just fried Dr. J's desk!"

Duo flipped off the transmission from her and deactivated the scythe.

"Where are you?" Nelson asked suspiciously.

"I think they called it a Leo," lied Duo. "We are on a field trip to Dover Mobile Suit base. Just thought I'd steal a little air time and contact you."

"Are they keeping the Valkyrie there?'

"What's a Valkyrie?" What did Lars Nelson know about Noin's gundam?

"A gundam. Prince Miliardo's new gundam. I heard it was built for Lucrezia Noin. She was a great pilot and teacher. It will be an honor of me to pilot her gundam. My brother assured me that the prince is considering me to replace that incompetent fool who took it against the Shadowhawk."

"What's a Shadowhawk?" Duo saw the eyes of the Valkryie light up. Naughty Noin! It's not nice to eavesdrop. "Hey, how does one become a gundam pilot?" he asked Nelson with a blank look on his face.

"Brains." Nelson smirked. "Are you finished with your questions? I have work to do."

"Yeah! Thank you for…" Nelson's face disappeared before he had a chance to finish. "Jackass! Takes more than brains to pilot a gundam."

Duo glanced at the Epyon again, then at the glowing eyes of the Valkyrie. Then he rubbed his hands together and opened a line to Noin. Her cheeks were wet with tears. Damn! He hated crying women. They were even more mysterious than angry women. "Did you hear that?" he asked although he knew the answer.

She wiped her face on her sleeve. "He's giving my Valkyrie to him?" She was outraged. Good, Duo could handle anger as long as it wasn't directed at him. Sometimes even he was angry enough to cry. Maybe next time he would try it!

"Lars Nelson did train to pilot gundam 06. He must be qualified."

"Qualified? He's qualified to put a knife in your back. He betrayed his own unit to the Alliance because he was passed up for promotion. I am ashamed to have trained him. The only thing that would make him a good gundam pilot is that he is a ruthless, heartless scoundrel."

"Gee, thanks, Noin."

"How could he do this to me!" Noin was working up a good rage. Duo tried not to smile.

"Hey, do you feel like taking the Valkyrie for a little fresh air?" he asked her. "Quatre and Wufei are training against the mobile dolls tomorrow on the Sahara field. The airwaves are already jammed to hide detection. What do you say, commander? We can have a friendly little match-up and be back in time for lights out."

"Zechs will be furious!"

Well, that was encouraging. Still, Duo was surprised that the door lock clicked open as Noin entered the codes. Where did she get those codes from? 

Duo activated his gundam. If they used boosters they could hit the training ground in less than an hour, duke it out for a few hours, then return. That is, thought Duo with a grin toward the Epyon, if they weren't caught. But that would be part of the fun!

Noin certainly had no reluctance about escaping her confinement at Seaside. Immediately after stepping onto the sand, the Valkyrie shot into the sky. After a graceful pirouette during which she slashed her glowing pike, she snapped open her wings and blasted away.

Duo whistled. "Here goes nothing!" He followed and swung his scythe in an arc to light the twilight sky. 

**********

"Your Excellency, there is an incoming call."

Miliardo looked across the car to Benton. "I told you to hold all calls."

Benton smiled. "Yes, sir." 

A few more minutes and they would arrive at Seaside. What would he say to Noin? He had to plan before she was standing face to face with him or he would not be able to say what he needed to. God, Miliardo knew he would lose the power of speech. Their two weeks of separation felt like two years. And he knew she was Noin again, not Roxie. Roxie was amusing, but he had fallen in love with Lucrezia Noin. Her dark hair, her dark eyes, her fresh, natural beauty…

"Your Excellency, I know you said to hold all calls, but this caller is insistent."

Miliardo glared at Benton. "I meant it. This time, I don't care if the Shadowhawk is carrying off Vice-Minister Une. I am going through with it."

Benton chuckled and snapped shut the telecom. "Might I say it is about time!"

"You just did," pointed out Miliardo with a chuckle.

"Do you have the ring?"

"Do you take me for a fool?" Miliardo reached into his jacket pocket. There was nothing. He checked the pockets of his pants. Empty. He remembered putting it on the table, then… "I left it at the palace."

Benton pulled the velvet-covered box from his own pocket.

Miliardo took it and smiled at him. "What would I do without you, Benton?"

"I'm sure I don't know."

Miliardo snapped open the box to look at the ring, then raised his brow. "This isn't…"

Benton reached across to snatch the ring. "Sorry, Your Excellency, wrong box."

Miliardo held out his hand. "Let me see that!"

Reluctantly his aide returned the box. Miliardo took an exact replica of the ring he had made for Noin from the box and held it up. It was bigger. He slipped it on his finger. It fit perfectly.

"Your Excellency, I don't think I was intended to give you that ring," said Benton.

Miliardo looked at the box. It appeared to be water stained. "Where did you get this?"

"The pond at the conservatory," confessed the young colonel. "I had to have it drained." He sighed. "I shouldn't be telling you this, your Excellency, but the commander had plans to ask you to marry her."

"Her? Me?" Miliardo stared at the ring. "She can't even wait for me to do it?" Benton's brow was raised. "All right, I will concede I have been a little slow, but you knew I had planned to do it that night."

"I couldn't tell her!"

"Of course not!" Miliardo laughed and slipped the ring off his finger. "I don't deserve that woman."

"Probably not!"

They both laughed as the limousine pulled to a stop before the Seaside Laboratory and Miliardo tossed the ring back to Benton.

The door flung open spilling light into the courtyard as Miliardo was exiting the car. Sally Po hurried out. "There you are! Why aren't you answering your calls?"

"Because I didn't want to be disturbed." He rubbed his hands together. "Now, where is my prisoner?"

Sally looked helplessly to Benton, then to Miliardo.

He got a bad feeling. "What happened?"

"She…she escaped!"

"Escaped!" The word exploded from him. "What in the hell is going on? I didn't tell you to lock her up!"

"She wasn't locked up," argued Sally. She took his arm and led him into the building. Heero, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei were waiting with eager looks on their faces. 

Miliardo looked at Sally. "Where is Duo Maxwell?"

"He went with her."

"What?" Miliardo turned to the other pilots. "Would one of you care to explain what is going on?"

They all shrugged.

Miliardo glared.

"Duo wanted to look for Trynity!" cried out Quatre.

Trowa slapped him over the back of the head, and Wufei put an elbow in his rib.

"What does this have to do with Noin escaping?"

"I don't know," said Sally, "but it must have something to do with it if Duo is involved. They are headed to the Sahara."

"I suppose she is in the Valkyrie." It was a statement more than a question. Sally nodded. "Damn!" He stalked across to the elevator and punched the code to take him to the hanger. "That woman! It will take me the rest of my life to understand her!"

Benton came to him. "Will you be returning to the palace tonight?"

"No! I may be awhile. Tell my sister that she is in charge until I come back."

Benton saluted, spun on his heel and left.

Sally came to him. "Zechs, what are you planning to do?"

"What I should have done a long time ago. I am going to clip that Valkyrie's wings." The elevator door opened, and he turned back to Quatre. "Come along with me, Mr. Winner. I have need of your assistance."

**********

Noin was laughing as she watched the Deathscythe crash to the ground. "Nice try, Maxwell, but I got you!"

"I didn't know we were playing rough!" he complained as he was rubbing his head. "Now you are going to pay!"

She almost did not avoid a blast from the vulcan gun mounted on the head of the Deathscythe. But Noin spun and charged downward with the pike. Duo rolled and darted into the sky. She swore and quickly retracted the wings in time to deflect another round from the gun.

"Not quite fast enough, Maxwell, and besides, I was expecting it!"

"You're not expecting this!"

Noin took the Valkyrie in the sky and saw instantly what Duo was talking about. There was a force of at least two dozen mobile dolls approaching. "You got some firepower left?" she asked Duo.

"Enough to play with them!"

Sally must have sent them out, mused Noin as they confronted the force. The mobile suits were ruthless and quick. Someone skilled, likely Heero Yuy or Quatre Winner, was probably controlling them from Seaside, so Noin had to concentrate on the battle. They certainly were out for blood! They swooped in blasting with beam rifles. Noin fired missiles and missed, almost hitting Duo instead.

"Hey, I think I'm on your side!"

Noin laughed. "Sorry, Duo." She worked up a sweat fighting the dolls and felt triumphant when she managed to down three of them with the plasma lightening. Duo took out two with his beam scythe. 

"Behind you, Noin!"

"Got it!" She thrust back with the pike and powered the tip. Pieces of the suit flew past her. Swinging around, she wrapped one up in the legs and blasted it with a missile as Duo sliced down the middle of another.

One suit fired a beam at the Deathscythe's back, but Noin flew in its path, and seizing the other gundam by the shoulders, she drew in the wings of her own to protect them from the blast.

"This is mighty fun," laughed Duo, "but what would Prince Miliardo say?"

Noin laughed and flipped away from him, using her boosters. They continued to battle the dolls until only a half-dozen were left. She hadn't even thought about turning on the zero system and was congratulating herself when her radar flashed a danger warning.

"Crap!" shouted Duo as three mobile dolls converged at him at once.

Noin looked up to see the dragon-like form of the Epyon bursting from the clouds, its segmented heat rod swaying behind like a tail. But she knew it was ready to strike. Noin shot away at the last second to avoid the blow and it destroyed a mobile doll. She shot one of the dolls away from Duo with the lightening cannon, then turned to raise her shield as the Epyon slashed down with its beam saber. Almost immediately it slashed with the whip-like heat rod, then shot away to avoid a blow from her pike.

"He's using the zero," warned Duo.

Noin wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at the switch to turn it on in her gundam. She couldn't do it. She wouldn't do it.

The Epyon charged again, and when Noin tried to counter, it flew past and quickly spun to hit her back with the saber. She knew it was coming, but could not close the wings fast enough. The Valkyrie hurtled downward, and when she hit the ground, Noin blacked out for a moment, then came to dizzy and nauseous. But she managed to scramble the Valkyrie to its feet, and as the Epyon dived from the black night sky, she shot upward intending to strike with the pike. From behind a mobile doll fired its beam cannon. Noin saw it coming, could not react fast enough. The Valkyrie absorbed the energy and she was jolted. She fell back against her seat barely conscious.

"Turn it on!" She heard the voice ordering her as if from a distance.

Noin shook her head. There was another mobile doll aiming a beam rifle at her, and she stared at for a moment in confusion before she began to raise her shield. Suddenly the mobile doll became two halves to one piece split by the beam scissors of the Deathscythe.

"What are you doing, Noin?"

She shook herself from her dazed state and checked her radar for the Epyon. It was above her. Noin refused to let Heero Yuy best her. She reached out to turn on the zero system, but this time she was prepared to master it. The Valkyrie scanned, and she read the information. As soon as she made her decision, the Valkyrie acted, but this time she maintained control. Instead of meeting the Epyon, she dropped to the ground, and when it landed and tried to deliver a blow, she had already leapt into the air and slammed the pike down on the head of the machine. It swung the heat rod, and she fired a missile, slamming it onto its back.

"Nice try, Heero Yuy!" Noin laughed as she sprang high into the air, then spiraled downward with the pike poised to impale the gundam attempting to rise from its back. At the last minute, she landed atop it, the pike held horizontally across it. "Do you give up, Heero?"

"Noin." She was shocked to hear Miliardo's shaky voice.

"What are you doing here?" She raised the pike to let him up. Miliardo sounded injured. That was all she could think of now.

Suddenly the beam saber came between them and she was thrown off onto her back. He could easily have attacked, but the Epyon instead sliced the arm off an attacking mobile doll, sending it's beam rifle into the sand and the suit itself spinning wildly until it exploded. 

Noin brought the Valkyrie to its feet. The Epyon approached but did not have a weapon drawn. She noticed that the Deathscythe was finished with all the mobile dolls, and it stood a few hundred feet away. Duo Maxwell! She suspected he knew Miliardo would be in the Epyon. What did he have to gain?

The wicked dark red gundam came to a stop face to face before the Valkyrie. Noin sighed and powered down just as the Epyon was doing. She looked at her sword, then decided to leave it. As she stepped outside, she wished she had it with her for protection. Miliardo looked angry enough to kill as he came from the dark interior of his gundam.

There was a space between them. She was glad for that. But that buffer was gone when Miliardo leapt across the void, and she held her breath fearing he would fall to his death, but he landed neatly beside her. Before she could give any excuse, he swept her into his arms and his lips silenced her. He held her tightly to him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She wasn't going to let go. Not this time!

********** 

Duo was sitting with his legs crossed and his feet up as he watched the scene on his monitor. Well, well, well, so he Prince Uptight did have an engine! Did they care that he could see buttons popping and clothing falling to the desert? Finally, after they had the decency to duck into the Valkyrie, Duo unbuckled and pulled out his space suit. They would be busy for a while unless he had misunderstood the meaning of Lightening Count. When he was ready, he checked the energy levels, then fired rocket boosters. With the scramblers already in place over the desert and with his own, Duo could leave undetected. Deathscythe would take him into space, but it wouldn't be easy. 

He was sure Trynity was out there. 

And he would find her.


	16. On the dark side of the moon

****

Coalition Base

Pain came rushing from every part of her body as Trynity's lashes fluttered open and a bright light flooded her eyes. Where was she? She blinked from the discomfort caused by the light.

"Inform Dr. Stryfe that his daughter is conscious."

Dr. Stryfe? Where was she? The last thing she remembered was facing a force of manned Taurus suits and mobile dolls sent to attack her by the Cinq Kingdom Space Fleet. The fight with the Wing Gundam and the unknown gundam whose pilot had obviously discovered the energy field that cloaked the Shadowhawk had already weakened the Shadowhawk. Something had driven both gundams away from their fight in the sky, and as Trynity cleared the atmosphere, she saw that the two gundams were battling each other. By then she knew that escape was almost impossible for her. A blow to the Shadowhawk's arm had jerked her own from the socket, leaving her unable to control the flail or draw the bow. Even so, the energy used during the fight to keep her cloaked to defend her and to act left barely enough to escape Earth's orbit. Throwing out heaven's tears had shut down all but life-support systems, and she could do nothing but to drift helplessly in space in her gundam.

Trynity knew what had to be done. The Shadowhawk could not be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy. So with what little strength she had remaining after taking blow after blow from the two gundams, she flipped the switch to activate the self-destruct sequence. Then she fell weakly against the back of the cockpit seat to wait for the pain to end. A cold sweat had broken out and she knew she was injured internally. Red light glowed around her, and she could hear the gundam creaking and groaning under the onslaught of the Taurus suit's attacks. When she finally heard the blast, Trynity fell into unconsciousness, certain that she would never open her eyes again.

So where was she? How did she survive the explosion?

The door to the infirmary slid open and she turned her head to see her father enter the room. He conversed with the doctor in a low voice she could not hear, and then he came to her bedside.

Trynity focused her blurry vision to see his face. "Father? Is it really you?"

He looked older than she remembered. There seemed to be more lines in his face and dark circles under his eyes. Trynity knew he was probably working too hard, and there was no one here to escort him to his bed. Many nights Trynity forced him to leave the laboratory and had to stay by his side until he was deep asleep before she could trust that he would not sneak back to his work.

"So, you are awake, pumpkin." He grinned at her as he sat on the edge of the narrow infirmary bed. He reached out to touch her cheek. "The doctor tells me that you are out of danger."

"Where are we? What happened?" Hot tears sprang to her eyes and made his face blur. "I am so sorry, father! I destroyed the Shadowhawk!"

He chuckled and put his hand on her cheek. "Shadowhawk is fine."

Trynity shook her head. "I activated the self-destruct sequence. There was no more power! We couldn't fight!"

Dr. Stryfe wiped her tears with the back of his hand. "You didn't think I would ever let you self-destruct?"

As he explained to her that he had overridden the self-destruct commands, Trynity closed her eyes and clenched her teeth to keep from crying. To save his precious gundam, he had replaced the explosives with a system that folded the Shadowhawk into a tight bird-mode. Then as it burst away from the field of battle, it sent distress signals, which Dr. Stryfe answered with a homing beacon that brought the battered gundam to this location.

"We have been busy making repairs and improvements based on the information in your final transmission." He patted her hand. "I will be happy to have you back at my side, pumpkin."

Trynity swallowed her emotion. Part of her was relieved that Shadowhawk had not been destroyed. But part of her wished they both had perished. "How long have I been here? And where is here?"

"This is the Coalition base," he told her as he ran a hand through his iron peppered red hair. "It is an abandoned colony located somewhere behind the moon. Apparently the World and Space Alliance thought it more feasible to evacuate the colony than to repair it after it sustained heavy damage during the war. The Coalition moved in."

"Like rats in a deserted building," commented Trynity.

Dr. Stryfe grunted. "They may be rats, pumpkin, but they have enabled me to continue my research into long-range propulsion."

"Father, that research is dangerous!" She tried to sit up, but he gently pushed her back down.

"You need more time to recover, Trynity Stryfe. The surgeon removed your spleen. You broke three ribs and dislocated your shoulder. Don't go wrecking his efforts to keep you alive." He leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. "We will talk later."

Without waiting for her argument, he left her in the care of the doctor. At first she was angry that he hadn't discussed his work with her, then she realized he was right. The catalog of her injuries was even more extensive than he had revealed. The fight with the two gundams had almost killed her. Trynity knew she had to rest to recover fully, then she could return to her father's laboratory to protect him from himself.

Several days passed before she was able to leave the bed and a few more before she dressed in the uniform of the Coalition that had been left for her. Over a short, zippered black dress, she wore a red jacket that had been embroidered with her name and an insignia that she guessed was the symbol of the Coalition: a hawk. After slipping on the black boots, she looked at herself in the mirror as she latched the golden chain Duo Maxwell had given her around her neck. That pack of morons at Seaside Lab wouldn't recognize her, she thought as she clipped back most of her hair. She didn't recognize the soldier that looked back at her.

As she moved slowly through the corridor away from the infirmary, she encountered several soldiers who saluted her respectfully, but Trynity ignored them as she limped onward. By the time she found the laboratory, she was exhausted, but she managed to make it to her father's side.

He stood alone at a worktable, concentrating on a thick, green substance in a beaker set over a blue flame. Trynity held her breath as he sprinkled something into the bubbling liquid. A flame shot up.

"Father!" she cried in alarm. The fuels he had been working with were highly volatile!

He turned to her. "Don't get in the way, pumpkin! I know what I am doing!"

She was sure he didn't but she reached out only to flip his safety goggles over his eyes.

Dr. Stryfe grunted. She stepped back nervously and noticed many of the other lab technicians were backing away. As he added more powder, Trynity cringed and held her breath. Suddenly he reached out, lifted the beaker and brought it to his lips.

"Father!"

"Delicious!" he announced after taking a long swallow. He held it up and looked around. "Anyone care to try?" The lab assistants laughed nervously but shook their heads and turned back to their own work. Dr. Stryfe looked at her. "How about you? It's my own special recipe. Has a bit of a kick to it!"

Trynity dropped weakly back on a stool before shaking her head. "I thought…"

Dr. Stryfe chuckled as he drained the beaker and set it aside. "I know what you thought." He patted her shoulder indulgently. "You have to stop underestimating people. Should you be out of the infirmary?"

"The doctor told me I could be out for a short while. I feel much better."

"This is no place for you." He glanced around and she noticed that not only was the lab staffed with technicians, but there were also soldiers carrying guns garbed in Coalition colors. "There are men everywhere."

He was worried about that? "I can take care of myself," she snapped. "Besides, on my way here, I was saluted. I must be an officer."

"They have great respect for the gundam pilot," he commented. "Very few have what it takes."

She looked around the large laboratory and her gaze fell on the dark form of the Shadowhawk on the other side of a steel and glass partition, standing as a sentinel in the shadows. 

Her father followed her gaze. "You will be quite pleased with the changes."

Trynity closed her eyes. "I can't take it out again. Ever."

"You can and you will."

She was surprised by his uncharacteristically stern voice. "You don't understand."

He sighed and turned to look at the giant gundam. "You chose to pilot it, Trynity. The Shadowhawk is yours."

"I also chose to destroy it," she pointed out bitterly. "You took that choice away from me."

Dr. Stryfe continued to stare at the Shadowhawk without responding.

Trynity continued. "Shadowhawk has killed many. _I_ have killed many."

"What did you expect when you allowed that snake Dekim Barton to train you?" He turned to look at her. "The Shadowhawk is a machine for killing."

"What does that make me?" she cried angrily, forcing back tears.

"You chose to pilot the gundam," he reminded her again. He ran hands through his shaggy hair, lacing his fingers at the back of his head. "I wanted to destroy the gundam, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't take it away from you, because it had become a big part of your life."

She stared silently at the Shadowhawk. Trynity could not imagine life without the gundam. Her first steps had been around her father's project, and as she grew, the Shadowhawk emerged.

"I never dreamed my own daughter would pilot gundam 06." He sighed. "Your mother was my life, Trynity. Together we hoped to help in building a peaceful future. We believed in the peace advocated by the pacifist leader Heero Yuy, and while I devoted myself to making deep space travel possible, your mother worked in medical research to find better treatment for space related illnesses while volunteering in colony hospitals in need of her expertise. We thought we could make a difference peacefully. But when Heero Yuy was assassinated, I became disillusioned. I was weak, and I allowed myself to be sucked into the schemes of the Barton Foundation."

Trynity looked at him. "The Barton Foundation funded your research, did it not?"

"Your mother never trusted them. She had been so right. At first, Barton pretended to be pleased with my work on propulsion. Your mother warned me again and again not to rely too heavily on his funding, that he wanted something far different from me." His voice was husky with emotion. "I was furious when they approached me with the plan for the gundam, and I refused to make their weapon. By the time you were born, war was waged all around us, and I wanted no part of their wars. I wanted to protect you and Quinlyn from it. Barton nagged me to work on the gundam, but I ignored him."

"Why did you change your mind?" Trynity realized that she knew very little about her father's past. Even less about her mother. Her mother had been a doctor?

"Your mother persuaded me to leave my work so that she could take you to visit her parents on colony L3. While we were there, I received an urgent demand to return to the laboratory, that there had been an accident needing my immediate attention. After I left, the colony was attacked. Your mother and her family were killed. I almost lost you too."

Trynity wished he would not bring up memories that were painful for him. "I know all that. Is that why you created the Shadowhawk?"

He put his hand on her shoulder. "Barton's men saved you, and I was grateful. Too grateful. Fool that I was, I did whatever they wanted and with much pleasure. You can't imagine how difficult it had been to lose your mother. I became bitter and consumed with revenge."

Trynity put her hand over his. "Please, father, don't torture yourself like this."

"I have to tell you this pumpkin. I believed that the Alliance had attacked the colony. All those years I worked for revenge, making the killing machine Barton asked of me, delighted to think it would be used to destroy the Alliance. Shortly before Operation Meteor, I discovered the truth. Barton had sent his own personal army to attack the colony. He had caused the death of innocent people so that I would work to avenge them. I had played right into his hands."

Trynity swallowed nervously, realizing that she, too, had played into Dekim Barton's hands. She used to hide and watch the pilots train to handle her father's masterpiece, and she had envied them. Barton had caught her once, and seeing her intense interest, secretly tested her and found her skills superior to the two pilots in training. Unknown to Ivan Stryfe at the time, she had been trained to pilot the Shadowhawk, to become a soldier for the Foundation. When he did discover it, he had no way of undoing the damage Barton's training had done to her. His only child had betrayed all his beliefs, and he had given her the means to do so.

"You need to rest," said Dr. Stryfe. He smiled at her although she felt utterly miserable. "Come back tomorrow. I have something to show you."

"Does it concern the Shadowhawk?"

He didn't answer her question. "Tomorrow, pumpkin. You are white as a ghost. Get back to your bed."

After returning to the infirmary, she slept the rest of the day and the night through. In the morning she was eager to get back to the lab after eating a hearty breakfast. Putting on her uniform, she snatched up her glasses, perched them on her nose and smiling to herself, she headed to the laboratory to see her father.

When she was only several yards away from the lab, an explosion shook the corridor and Trynity was thrown against the wall. Fearing the worst, she ignored her own safety and rushed into the lab in a frantic search for her father. Amid the broken glass and fires now being extinguished by technicians, she found Ivan Stryfe scratching his head, his hair only slightly singed. She sighed with relief as she came to him.

He looked at her. "That combination was very volatile," was his only comment. Then he reached out to take the glasses from her nose and placed them on his own. "Thank you for bringing these, pumpkin. I realized too late that I had left them on L10. I've had a hell of a hard time without them." He kissed her cheek, then proceed to tell her the equation of the formula that had caused the explosion.

When he finished, she shook her head. "Father, you should have predicted that result."

He leaned close to her and whispered, "Things were getting a little boring around here. I thought I'd make them earn their pay."

Trynity bit her lip to keep from laughing as she watched the lab workers scurry about to clean up. "Father!"

He winked, then put his arm around her shoulder. She winced from the nagging pain. That arm still was not completely healed. The doctor assured her that in a few days she could begin working the arm to regain the strength.

"Now that you are here, we can work together," her father was saying as they left the lab, passing through an airlock and entering the mobile suit hangar where the Shadowhawk was stored.

Trynity kept her eyes on the gundam. "What damage was done?"

He listed the repairs, most already completed by the efficient technicians and engineers of the Coalition. There were some further adjustments that required the fine-tuning of Ivan Stryfe, and Trynity wanted to run her own tests before she would consider the Shadowhawk recovered.

They sat at a computer screen together for much of the day reviewing the data she had collected during her encounters with the Cinq Kingdom gundams. They found the strengths and weaknesses of each gundam, including the unknown gundam they designated as gundam 08. There was one notable exception to their discussion that her father did not fail to point out.

"Gundam 02's data is incomplete." He looked at her with a raised brow.

Trynity felt her face redden. He might as well be scolding her aloud because his admonishment was loud and clear.

Then he did just that. "It's not like you to leave loose ends."

"I encountered it only once," she told him.

"You allowed it to run a scan on the Shadowhawk," he informed her.

"I jammed the scan before it could finish," she pointed out.

"Someone used that data to unlock Shadowhawk's secret. The next time you go into action, it will be on an even playing field. The cloak will do you no good."

"I will work on it, make some modifications," she argued.

He shrugged. "As for Gundam 02, I have referenced its weaponry. It appears to use a scythe of some type with a powerful beam. Look at the readings picked up by Shadowhawk when it tried to attack."

Trynity looked at the image of the gundam attacking with the scythe and shuddered. She would never forget it! It looked like a demon from hell. She could not imagine the type of ruthless devil that would pilot such a beast.

Dr. Stryfe chuckled as the playback came to an end with the gundam plummeting into the atmosphere. "There must have been a malfunction to cause such an incredible loss of energy." Then he sobered as he looked at her. "You showed considerable restraint in not destroying it."

She disappointed him by telling him, "My orders were to destroy Wing gundam 01 and the Epyon. I had no orders concerning that one."

He sighed and put his hand on her cheek. "Pumpkin, you have become a soldier, blindly following orders."

"I have to," she replied and moved her face so that his hand fell away.

Her father sat down. "I suppose I should be blamed. I knew what type of person they sought to pilot the gundam, one with nothing to lose, with no conscience, a soulless person who could be trained to do anything without question or remorse. I never realized until too late that I had neglected to tend your heart, Trynity. Now you have none."

She put her hands on his shoulders. "That is not true, father. I love you."

He smiled and patted her hands. "I am certainly the chink in your armor. But I would be lost without you, pumpkin." He turned back to the screen to replay the abbreviated battle.

As they watched yet again, Trynity absent-mindedly toyed with the charm hanging around her neck. Then she started to think of Duo Maxwell without wanting to. Trynity was ashamed of her foolishness where he was concerned. He was a buffoon, an idiot, and a moron of the lowest degree! Not once had he shown the slightest hint of intelligence. While she risked her neck for her father, he showed a lack of maturity and seriousness that was exasperating. Yet she had been drawn to him, against her will, against her better sense. Why? How?

"Are you listening, pumpkin?"

Her hand fell away from the charm.

Dr. Stryfe looked at it for a moment, then directed her attention to the screen. She was looking at the design for a new weapon. "That looks like the weapon gundam 08 was using," she remarked.

"With some modifications. It is a double edged beam saber. I am quite sure that you will have to battle 02 again, but it will be even more prepared for the attack. In that case, your only alternative is to best it in a physical battle, hand to hand, so to speak."

Trynity stared at the weapon. "I have no experience with a long-handled weapon like that."

"You will have to train," interrupted a voice from behind them. She turned around, and at first she didn't recognize the tall man watching them with his arms folded over his chest. And when she did recognize the dark, handsome young man, she crushed a wave of embarrassment that rolled through her. 

Lars Nelson. Trynity had hoped to see the last of him two years ago when he left L10 furious that his chance to pilot the Shadowhawk ended in a fiery explosion. He had never been anything but cruel to her when she had been suffering the worst case of puppy love for the young pilot training on L10. When Dekim Barton had caught her, she had been spying on him as much as she had been observing the training. But that last day, he had sought her to say goodbye, and she had been surprised and overjoyed. She had been stupid enough to reveal her feelings, and he had tried to take advantage of them. In retrospect, Trynity knew his mauling had been motivated out of revenge against her father for taking away his golden opportunity to pilot a gundam. She ended her disastrous crush on him with a well-placed knee. After he left the research post for good, she hid in her room for days to keep her father from seeing her bruises and the marks he had made. She incinerated her ripped clothing, and as she watched them burn, her heart had burned as well. Her first lesson about men; they were beasts.

Now as they looked at each other, her hand went back to the scythe at her neck. Her second lesson; they couldn't be trusted.

Before he could say anything more, A Coalition soldier approached and saluted them both. "Captain Nelson, Lieutenant Stryfe, the commander awaits you."

Hearing her rank, Trynity felt a little embarrassed that she had decided not to wear the boots which pinched her feet. Instead she wore her comfortable tennis shoes with her uniform.

As if reading her mind, Lars glanced at the untied footwear with faint amusement. "Still not tying your shoes?"

Trynity did not respond as they followed the soldier from the lab. She hated to admit even to herself that Lars Nelson made her feel nervous. She wasn't a fifteen year old lovesick girl anymore! She wasn't going to take crap from men!

They entered an office that must have once belonged to the former colony administrator. Now a tall man stood with his hands behind his back contemplating space from the huge windows ringing the office. Trynity saw mobile suits leaving the colony, others being worked on my mechanics.

"What do you think of our army, Lieutenant Stryfe?"

Trynity looked back at the commander. He wore the garb of the Cinq Kingdom! One word came to Trynity's mind immediately: traitor. But she pushed back her contempt. This was the man who held the power of life or death over her father; he was the one who gave her orders.

Lars put his hand on her shoulder and propelled her forward. To her annoyance, he did not remove it, but slid it lower to rest on the small of her back. "Allow me to introduce my brother, Colonel Lionel Nelson."

Trynity had heard the name before. "You are the commander of Miliardo Peacecraft's Space Fleet."

His smile was eerie. "You are well-informed."

"I am his ward," she pointed out.

"A fact that amuses me greatly." Nelson came forward and Trynity fought the feeling of being trapped. "I never thanked you for disposing of Lucrezia Noin." He extended his hand.

She didn't take it. "A soldier doesn't need thanks for carrying out orders."

Nelson turned back to admire his fleet. "You did not give me your assessment of my armaments."

She stepped away from Lars. He had been standing so close that she could feel his warm breath in her hair. Did he think she would find him at all attractive after…after…? Trynity was annoyed to catch herself touching the scythe. She jerked her hand away. She couldn't afford a distraction now.

"Two dozen Taurus suits," she counted as she looked at the mobile suits filling the space around the colony. "Mobile dolls? I think I see three dozen." She turned to look at Nelson. "Not much to take against one gundam let alone six, seven including the Epyon if it has been rebuilt."

Lars came forward to grab her arm. "Who do you think you are talking to? How dare you!"

"Let her go!" snapped his brother, who then smiled at Trynity when the sulking Lars stepped back. "Quite correct, Lieutenant Stryfe. But I have other resources beyond what you see here."

She raised a brow. "I assume that a man of Miliardo Peacecraft's sly ingenuity has been building a space fleet from some location."

"Quite right, my dear." Nelson chuckled. "I have control of his secret factory." He reminded Trynity of a snake. "And the suits it has been producing have been redesigned to your father's specifications. We call them Sagitariens as each is able to fire ten disrupter bolts from a mounted crossbow. They are also equipped with the standard beam rifle, but those bolts are quite effective. A suitable complement to the Shadowhawk, wouldn't you say?"

"The crossbow doesn't have the range or power of the longbow used on the Shadowhawk," she commented. "But the Sagitariens will be effective against the mobile dolls and the prince's fleet of manned Taurus suits. It may even be minimally effective against the gundams as a distraction."

"Very astute, lieutenant. But then, that is why I find you a valuable asset to the Coalition. Your father assures me that with the changes he has made to the Shadowhawk, only the pilot's skill will be the difference in a prolonged battle."

"I will not fail," she stated. 

Lars snorted. "Strong words from you, Trynity Stryfe. You were ordered twice to remove the commander of the Cinq Kingdom forces."

Trynity didn't hide her disgust as she glared at him. "The mission was ultimately successful."

"Indeed." Nelson was stroking his mustache. "Noin was a stumbling block. For many years she was content to stand behind Zechs Merquise. A foolish choice for a woman of her intelligence and fire." Trynity saw that he was clenching his fists. He must have had feelings other than admiration for Commander Noin. "With her in control of his forces, it would have been difficult to get as far as we have."

"It is too bad there was no other way," commented Lars. "She was an admirable person."

His brother glared at him. "You wear your weakness on your sleeve, brother."

Lars shifted his gaze away, embarrassed.

"What is your ultimate goal?" asked Trynity. The brothers obviously had little love of each other.

"Freedom from the Cinq Kingdom and the tyrant Zechs Merquise," Lars told her.

Trynity turned her attention back to him. Did Lars really believe that idealistic nonsense? She noticed the elder Nelson smiling indulgently. His motives were probably a little more basic and less idealistic than those of his brother: power, greed, jealousy. Lars seemed to earnestly believe in the official line. Fool!

"You are recovering quickly," remarked Colonel Nelson. "I have assigned my brother to train you in the use of the new weapon that your father is designing to use against gundam 02. Lars was a student of Lucrezia Noin, and she praised his skill with the staff, which was one of her particular strong points. That is why it was incorporated on the new gundam which had been designed exclusively for her. Unfortunately, the pilot who replaced her could not handle it. As for you, Lieutenant Stryfe, you will train Lars in the use of the longbow as he trains you."

Trynity started with surprise. "He will not pilot the Shadowhawk!"

"No, that is your gundam. We have completed building a superior mobile suit of titanium alloy. Unfortunately, gundanium is impossible to get without causing suspicion. Seems that only Miliardo Peacecraft is capable of such feats."

Trynity heard his resentment though Lars was completely oblivious.

"My father will not disappoint you," she said.

Nelson's smile unnerved her. "Nor will you."

Lars saluted his brother, but Trynity did not before they left. She was his pilot and took his orders, but she had no intention of giving him any deference. Colonel Nelson merely smiled at her insubordination as he returned his brother's salute.

Trynity followed Lars from the room. They did not speak until they were well away from his brother's office. When they entered a deserted corridor, he suddenly seized her and threw her against the wall. Trynity groaned from the pain that shot down her injured arm from the impact.

He put a hand on the wall by her head and leaned forward. "Surprised to see me again? I never thought I'd see you, Trynity Stryfe."

She tried to move away, but he shoved her back and grabbed her chin to force her to look at him. Trynity said nothing as she glared at him.

"My dear Trynity, imagine how I felt when I learned that my gundam was being piloted by you!"

"Shadowhawk was never your gundam!" she retorted.

"And I thought you had destroyed your father's work so that he would turn his attention to you! But you only wanted to steal it from me. I will get it back."

"You could never handle it," she stated coolly.

He laughed and pressed against her, crushing her against the wall with his body. "I will handle it, and I will handle you, too, Trynity Stryfe."

When he leaned forward to kiss her, she brought up her knee, but Lars was ready for her move and caught it, then took the opportunity to slide his hand up the inside of her thigh. But as he was grinning with triumph, she poked him sharply in the rib, balled her hand into a first and hit him so hard in the jaw that she was afraid that she had broken bones in her own hand. Lars stumbled back, and she launched herself at him, shoving him against the opposite wall.

Trynity put her forearm under his chin and pressed it into his neck, cutting off his air. He tried to struggle, so she shoved her knee between his legs and was amused to see his eyes bulge. Trynity wondered which frightened him more: the oxygen deprivation or permanent injury to a part of him he apparently cherished.

"I am not a naïve little girl anymore," she told him, stretching up to speak to him nose to nose. His face was darkening from lack of air. "Don't make this mistake again or you will regret it." She waited a moment until his eyes started to roll back, then jerked her knee upward and let him fall gasping and wheezing to the floor. "Don't you ever touch me like that again."

Trynity stepped over his writhing body and continued on her way back to the lab. By the time she re-joined her father, she had regained her composure. She didn't tell him about Lars' attack. What could he do anyway? She had to handle him on her own.

But she didn't see Lars again until a few days later. While working in the lab, a soldier arrived to escort her to training with Captain Nelson. He was waiting in a deck area that overlooked the dark side of the moon. Weapons lined the walls and on the far end stood a target. Lars was holding a longbow.

"I thought we would wait until I was healed," she told him as she picked up an arrow, wondering if she would have to use it as a defensive weapon against him.

"I think you are healed enough." He was twanging the bowstring as he looked her over from head to foot. Lars was too thick skulled to learn his lesson. How would he look with arrow protruding from his eye? Better yet, much lower?

Disgusted, she turned to look at the moon. It was so dark and desolate, unlike the face of the moon she had seen from Earth. Sighing, she could not help but think of her last night on the planet, dancing under the moon reflecting on the pond. Trynity would never be able to look at the moon without thinking of Duo Maxwell. And it hurt to think of him.

"Let's get started," growled Lars impatiently.

Her warning must have sunk in because Lars did not make any attempt to bully her or touch her except when necessary. He didn't have any natural talent with the bow, but then she had expected that. Lars had trained hard to be the Shadowhawk's pilot because it did not come easy to him. This day after many failed attempts, he finally sent an arrow sailing to the target. When it missed, he swore and Trynity tried to hide her smile.

But Lars saw it. "Are you mocking me? I will pay you back, Trynity Stryfe." He took up another arrow and prepared to shoot. "Of course, fighting with a staff can be quite entertaining. I plan to have you flat on your back as often as I can."

Trynity didn't respond. She was annoyed to have to rely on him for training. They both knew she would be at his mercy and he was going to take as much advantage of that as possible.

For hours, he ignored her unless she gave him advice. To his credit, he followed her instructions without question and he worked with determination. It took no small amount of strength for a man to use the longbow, and she caught herself admiring the rippling movements of his muscles as he tried again and again to hit the center of the target. He was a jerk, but not an unattractive jerk. Watching him was no great task. 

By the end of the day when she was starting to feel hungry, his shots were moving closer to the center of the target. She suggested leaving to eat, but he merely grunted his permission for her to go. As she left him behind digging his arrows from the target, she thought of the determination of Heero Yuy and his ridiculous video game. Lars was a lot like him. 

Her father was working on some project for which he used the computer, but when Trynity approached, he quickly changed his screen. Trynity frowned at him.

"You know," he commented, "this is a very useful machine."

She didn't reply as she sat on a stool by him. What had he been doing?

He dug an apple from the pocket of his lab coat and tossed it to her. "I am too busy to leave. Perhaps that nice young Captain Nelson would eat supper with you."

Trynity glared at him.

He chuckled. "Were it not for his brother's influence, Lars might be a likable fellow."

"I don't need you to play cupid for me," she said, annoyed. She took a bite of the apple.

"I just thought you might want some advice on how to forget the young man who gave you this." He reached out to touch the scythe dangling from the gold chain.

Trynity jerked back and choked on the chunk of apple she had bitten off. Her father pounded on her back then took the apple from her hand.

"Perhaps you should eat pureed food," he commented with a grin. He tossed the apple up and down as he looked at her. "Are you going to talk about him, pumpkin?"

"No!"

"A ha! So I was right! Some young man gave you that necklace." Dr. Stryfe was pleased with himself.

"An idiot!" she snarled as she tried to get the apple from him, but he managed to swipe it out of the air before she could grab it.

"Well, that is a promising start! Where did you meet this idiot?"

"Does it matter?" She seized the apple and took another bite.

"Of course it does! I'd like to know something about this young man you have fallen in love with."

She choked again.

"Ha!" Her father took back the apple. This time she cleared her throat on her own. 

"That is ridiculous!" Trynity could feel that her face was red.

Dr. Stryfe merely smiled at his daughter.

She glared back at him.

He tossed the apple, and when Trynity tried to get it, she accidentally batted it. The apple flew through the air, and they watched as it bounced off a worktable, then crashed into several beakers, spilling the contents over the counter. Trynity threw herself at her father, and they landed on the floor just as an explosion rocked the laboratory. As glass and tubing rained around them, Trynity heard the Coalition scientific research staff cursing.

She looked her father in the eye.

They both shook with laughter.

The following days blended together as she divided her time between the practice deck with Lars, the laboratory with her father and test piloting the Sagitarien mobile suits. Her arm no longer troubled her, so she was forced to spar with Lars, to take his lessons like a bitter pill. True to his word, he took delight in knocking her down, which he did quite frequently. She finished each day feeling bruised both physically and mentally, and she hated to admit that he had some remarkable skill. His skill on the bow was improving also, so she congratulated herself on her teaching although he was far from proficient. Lars spent all his spare time practicing with dogged determination so that when her father completed work on the advanced mobile suit that he dubbed the Artemis after the Greek goddess of the hunt, Lars was ready to pilot it.

Troubling Trynity was the fact that she looked forward to working with Lars Nelson. Her father teased her, but she was at least smart enough not to trust the young captain. That had already gotten her into trouble. And Lars was smart enough not to test her. 

Another troubling development was the work her father did with the aid of his computer. He did not share it with her, and when she entered the lab, he quickly closed out the screen and ended the program before she could even get a hint of what he was doing. Trynity could only hope that he was not designing something that would kill them all.

The previous day Colonel Nelson took off on a shuttle to take him to Earth per the order of Miliardo Peacecraft. Lars had been furious at the rude order, but his brother cautioned him to be patient. Trynity had discovered that Nelson had been ordered to stop the Shadowhawk, and the only reason she had not been destroyed was that Nelson had programmed the mobile dolls to blast away the manned Taurus suits sent out to stop her. His official explanation of the incident was that the gundam was cloaked, that it had destroyed the Taurus suits and jammed the signals sent to the mobile dolls. No witnesses remained to refute him. Trynity despised the lying rat, but he was her commander; her father was still his prisoner.

When Nelson had gone, Lars decided to forgo their afternoon training to take out the Artemis which had been programmed with data from his training. Trynity stayed in the lab, trying to get a peak at her father's secret work, but he had locked his files with a tight code that she couldn't crack. So she wandered to her father who was in another part of the lab monitoring the training exercise testing his latest project, the Artemis. Space mines had been scattered for Lars to use for target practice. At first, he stayed still as he shot the bow, and after a few misses, he managed to take out a couple of the mines. Then he was ordered to maneuver the suit in different directions while taking aim. Trynity hoped for her own sake that he didn't make an ass of himself, and she was relieved when he hit two of the three targets. Lars was more than a passable pilot, no doubt more due to the training he had received in the special forces under Commander Noin than the training on L10.

During the exercises, a call from Earth was transmitted to his mobile suit from the Space Fleet Operations communications center. 

Her father flipped on the telecom to monitor. Trynity hoped it was a report that Nelson had been arrested, that Miliardo Peacecraft had wised up and realized the commander of his Space Defense fleet was a liar and a traitor. She was quite enjoying her little fantasy when a voice she thought she would never hear again and a face she would never see again, appeared on the screen.

__

"What can I do for you, Duo Maxwell?" Lars was speaking.

She felt her heart beating frantically as she looked at his face. _"I am investigating Dr. Ivan Stryfe for a report at school. I know that you were stationed there and must have known him personally."_

Her father raised his brows. "So now young people are writing reports about me! I am so flattered!"

Lars responded. _"I was training to pilot Gundam 06."_

"Hey, that sounds like hard work!" Trynity gritted her teeth as Duo grinned at Lars. What a dimwit!

__

"What do you really want, Duo Maxwell? Trynity Stryfe could have told you all you wanted to know about her father when she was staying at your little orphanage."

Trynity narrowed her eyes. Duo _had_ tried to question her. So what did he want now? She didn't remember any such reports being assigned.

He scratched his head. Trynity caught herself smiling about his nervous tick. Her father wriggled his brows at her and she stopped smiling.

__

"Okay, so you got me! I'm looking for Trynity. Did she have any family beside her father?"

As Lars explained what happened to her mother, Trynity stared at Duo's face. He was looking for her! Her father was watching her, so she tried to curb her excitement. In fact, she berated herself for her feelings. Why did she care if Duo Maxwell was looking for her? She could never go back there!

__

"So all she had was her father."

"She adored that fool."

Dr. Stryfe sighed sadly. "One moment I am the stuff of which school papers are written, the next, I am a fool."

Trynity smiled and put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but her smile faded when she heard Lars' next words.

__

"Trynity was quite amusing during my stay at L10. Did you find her as…amusing?"

His meaning was clear. Although Trynity gasped with outrage, her father chuckled. Duo's eyes widened, then he yelped.

__

"Oops!"

"Duo!" Another voice could be heard in the background. _"What are you doing? You just fried Dr. J's desk!"_

Trynity tried to check where the transmission was coming from just as Lars demanded to know.

__

"I think they call it a Leo. We are on a field trip to Dover Mobile Suit base. Just thought I'd steal a little air time and contact you."

Trynity made a sound of disgust. "The mobile suit base will be history before he leaves, if that is any indication."

She didn't hear the rest of the conversation, but she did hear Duo ask, _"Hey, how does one become a gundam pilot?"_ There was such a cow stupid look on his face that Trynity cringed.

__

"Brains," responded Lars.

Something that Duo Maxwell lacked considerable thought Trynity.

Her father switched off the transmission, then turned to look at her. "Takes more than brains," he commented with a chuckle. "I'm not sure your little friend has that special something."

"He's an idiot."

Dr. Stryfe smiled and his gaze fell to her necklace.

Trynity blushed.

Fortunately, he asked no more questions, but she knew the damage was done. Instead of waiting around for her father to ask embarrassing questions, she went down to the docking bay to await Lars' return. When he finally entered the airlock, she marched up to him.

"Just what did you mean?"

Lars' dark eyes met hers and she wasn't mollified to see that he appeared to be ashamed.

"Did you think we weren't watching and listening?" she demanded.

He pulled off his space suit and tossed it aside. "I thought I would give the half-wit something to think about. Why do you care?"

"I don't!" She spun around to leave, but he suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him.

"I don't like that he is looking for you!" Before she could react, he was kissing her, and not the sweet kissing she had experienced with Duo. Nor was it like the fumbling, angry kisses he had given her on L10. This was the kiss of a man with experience in manipulating women, and for several moments she was lost in his arms. A dark part of her responded to his passion, and she wrestled with that part until she lost and relaxed against him, letting him lead her where he would.

But he released her so suddenly that she fell back weakly. His smug grin and crass words ruined whatever effect he hoped to have on her. "I told you I would learn to handle you."

Trynity slapped his face and stalked away with his laughter ringing in her ears. When she returned to her room, she paced as she thought of Duo's call, then Lars' kiss. She was becoming confused by her feelings, and she didn't like it one bit!

Finally she gave in to her most secret desire and sat down at her computer. She called up the transmission from Earth, and as she replayed it again and again, she laid her hand over the scythe and stared at Duo Maxwell in all his moronic glory.

She had completely lost her mind!


	17. Training at the Coalition base

****

Coalition Base

Trynity was getting ready for bed when the buzzer for her door sounded. She had said goodnight to her father earlier, but Dr. Stryfe seemed very distracted. Since his eyes kept shifting to his new best friend, his computer, she knew that he was eager to get to work and she was in the way. So she doubted her father was at the door.

With annoyance, she keyed in the code to unlock the door, then growled, "What do you want?"

"Is that any way to speak to your commanding officer?" Lars pushed passed her and stopped further in the room, then turned to watch her. He was appreciating her casual undress a bit too much for her comfort. She hadn't seen him since yesterday when he had made a fool of her, and that was just fine. Now wearing an old, oversized teeshirt that barely reached her knees, she wished she hadn't opened the door to him. 

"Then I arrived just in time." His knowing smile made her want to kick him. He was lucky that he was across the room. From behind his back, he pulled a six-pack of cans. "Something to celebrate."

Trynity frowned as she realized he had brought beer. "I don't drink alcohol."

"Lighten up!" Words worthy of Duo Maxwell. He tossed her a can, then sat on the edge of her narrow bed, the one chair in the room already taken up with a pile of her clothing.

She looked at the can with annoyance and considered launching it at the annoying captain. He was already drinking from a can.

"So what are we supposed to be celebrating?" The can of beer in her hand was cold, and she realized that she was just a little bit thirsty. What harm could a little do?

Lars smiled as she tasted it. At first she winced from the bitterness, but the second mouthful went down easier. She could tolerate it.

"In answer to your question, I thought I did a damn good job today during trainng." He was rather smug about his progress.

"You missed a majority of your targets," she pointed out. When he drank from his beer, she did likewise.

"We can't all be perfect, Trynity Stryfe." He stretched out on her bed, one arm behind his head, the other raising the beer to his lips again. There was a challenge in his eyes.

Trynity was irked. She drank more. "Aren't you on duty?"

"I have to have a little rest and…" he grinned and patted the bed beside him, "recreation."

She raised her brow. "You must be delusional, Lars Nelson." When he drank, so did she and realized she was copying him. That strangely amused her.

Lars set aside his can and took another. He glanced at her. "Do you need more?"

Hers was only half empty. How did he finish before her? Apparently she needed to take longer swallows. Annoyed, she gulped the rest of hers, then crushed the can and threw it at his head.

Snickering, Lars ducked, then tossed her a full can. "I will take that as a warning, Lieutenant Stryfe."

"See that you do!" They opened their cans at the same time, eyes on each other. When he lifted his to his lips, so did she, and when he began to drink, she followed and did not stop drinking until he took the can from his mouth. Trynity felt a little breathless and woozy.

Lars patted the bed again.

Trynity glared, then heard someone giggle and realized it was her.

"It's warm in here," he commented, then tossed aside his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. Her attention was drawn to his chest as he reached for another beer. "Do you need one?"

The can in her hand was not empty, so she drained it. "I do now," she said as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. It was awfully warm in here, but she couldn't very well take off her shirt. Could she?

Lars laughed as he tossed her another beer and she let her can fall to the floor. She fumbled the catch but managed to hang on with considerable effort. She blew a curl from her eyes and had difficulty focusing as she popped it open.

"So you were not impressed with my performance?" asked Lars.

Which performance? She thought about that kiss as she looked at his chest exposed by the parted shirt.

"I would like an honest evaluation from my teacher."

She blinked to bring herself back to the subject. "You aim too far to the right," she scolded before taking a drink. 'Or was it to the left?" She giggled. "Maybe it was too high."

Lars laughed and swung off her bed. "Maybe it was too low."

"Uh oh!" She squealed when he reached out for her, shutting the door she had left open with his other hand. She ducked, but then he swiped for her again and caught her around the waist.

"I think you need to get off your feet before you fall and hurt yourself," he said as he hauled her to the bed.

The telecom buzzed and he froze.

Trynity was laughing as she reached out to turn it on.

A sober-faced soldier appeared and then he blinked in amazement. "Is…is Captain Nelson there?"

Lars swung Trynity out f the way before she could respond. She felt like a sack of potatoes in his grasp. "What is it, corporal? I told you that I didn't want to be disturbed."

"We are picking up some abnormal readings coming from the Earth's surface. Dr. Stryfe thought you should know that it appears to be a battle of some sort over the Sahara."

"Keep me posted. It is probably nothing but a glitch."

"Keep me posted too!" Trynity hiccuped. She couldn't quite focus on anything now. She saw the floor moving past as she floated over it, then suddenly, she was on her back on the bed. The room started to spin, and if it weren't for her zero gravity training, she might have vomited.

"What is going on?" She tried to sit up, but he shoved her back down.

"Time for recreation, lieutenant," Lars said softly with a low laugh. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned toward her.

An inner alarm warned her of the danger, so she quickly rolled off the bed to the floor where she banged her forehead. Lars reached for her, but she scooted out from under his hand. Although she was sluggish, she managed to pull herself to her feet in time for him to grab her around the waist and pull her back to the bed. He tried to pin her, but Trynity hit him in the face with her head. Unfortunately, the blow stunned her as well, but she heard Lars swearing and saw him wipe blood from the corner of his mouth. Trynity laughed, then had the air knocked out of her when he fell on her. They wrestled for a moment as he tried to catch her hands. She was starting to find the activity strangely enjoyable and was about to give in to find out where it would lead when the telecom buzzed again.

"Damn it to hell," snarled Lars who left so quickly to answer it that Trynity fell off the bed. She peeked over the edge to watch and listen.

"Captain, sorry to disturb you, but Dr. Stryfe believes that Gundam 02 has cleared the Earth's atmosphere."

"Is it headed this direction?"

"Yes."

"Alone?" Lars' voice was incredulous.

"There doesn't appear to be any mobile forces accompanying it."

"Have the Artemis prepared as well as six Sagitariens. I will be there shortly." He pushed a button, then slammed down the screen to the communicator. He ran a hand through his long, dark hair, then turned to look at her.

Trynity crawled out from the other side of the bed. "I'll take the Shadowhawk."

Lars snorted as he looked down at her. "You are in no condition to go into battle. Besides, the Shadowhawk is undergoing refitting, and you, even when you are sober, aren't ready to battle that gundam." He pulled her up against him, and tilting her head back he looked down into her eyes. His face was somewhat blurred. "Why don't you just crawl into bed and wait for me. We'll continue when I get back from whipping 02's backside."

When he released her and walked out, she fell weakly back onto the bed. Who did he think he was talking to? She was the pilot of the Shadowhawk, not one of his silly female admirers! Trynity stumbled around the room gathering up her uniform. Gundam 02 was her prey, and even if Shadowhawk weren't ready, she had no intention of letting Lars Nelson near it.

*********

Duo could see by the light flashing on his control panel that Sally Po was trying to contact him, but he jammed out her signal just as the Deathscythe burst out of the atmosphere into space. "Just having a little look-see. No need to get too uptight," he muttered. "We can take care of ourselves, right buddy?"

Now, where would be a likely place to look for Trynity Stryfe? No question, L10, but he could hardly fly around in Deathscythe looking for that red-headed thistle-girl. Duo really hadn't thought this out very carefully, but he had no choice but to go ahead now. He accessed records and swallowed nervously when he noted that the trip to L10 was at least three weeks. Three weeks! That was two weeks further out than the furthest settled colony. What the hell was Stryfe doing way out there? Trynity grew up out there? His heart ached as he remembered her saying that Earth was just a pinpoint in the sky to her.

Well, there was only one thing to do, and that was to pay a visit to the Cinq Kingdom Space Defense port. There he could safely store his gundam while he took a shuttle to the nearest colony where he could find another shuttle to the next and so on until he came to the last. Since the research station was uninhabited, he doubted he would be able to get transportation there, but he would deal with that problem when it arose. He might miss a little school - hell, he was going to miss a lot of school, but Duo had no need for it and he couldn't imagine sitting in a classroom without Miss Stryfe to distract him. 

But as he was set on course to the defense post, an approaching force set off Deathscythe's warning systems. Was Nelson sending an escort? Duo ran a scan, but it was suddenly jammed from another location. Now he was a little worried as he visually surveyed the approaching mobile suits. There seemed to be seven in all. One suit was larger than the others, so he guessed it was the commander. When Duo saw the bow mounted on its back, he knew he was screwed. The six suits following the one in the lead appeared to have weapons resembling crossbows he had seen in pictures in his history book. He imagined that the bolts they would fire from the weapons mounted on their arms would not be pleasant.

So they were going to play games! He hadn't been in a good fight since the battle against the Barton Foundation. His little jaunt to the desert with Noin was amusing, but it wasn't true battle. Now he could have some real fun with Deathscythe. Then he checked his energy levels and he didn't like what he saw. "This is not good, buddy. Not good at all." Had he known he would be seeing action in space, he might not have spent so much time goofing around with the Valkyrie. Now what was he going to do?

Memories of his debacle with the Shadowhawk came flooding back, and he scrutinized space looking for the gundam. Of course, he wouldn't be able to see it, so he checked the scope installed to search for the cloaking beams, but he did not see the Shadowhawk's form there either. Well, at least that was one good sign. But while the lead mobile suit was not a gundam, its titanium armor was going to be a problem. Then he saw the mobile suit draw a bow similar to the one he had seen on the Shadowhawk, and as it nocked a pulsing arrow, Duo quickly re-routed what energy he had to maneuvering, but the arrow missed even before he moved.

"Nice shot," Duo laughed with nervous relief. He then detected communication transmissions between the suits, and he caught one faintly.

"Too far right, captain!" Then he heard a giggle. The transmission was fuzzy with static, but he did hear the leader respond.

"Lieutenant, what are you doing out here?"

Duo watched as one of the smaller mobile suits left formation, do a few flips as if out of control, then he found himself staring at two glowing bolts flying straight and true towards him. He quickly raised his shield and felt it jolt with the energy released. His hair seemed to stand on end.

"I am the ranking pilot," the leader said, "and I order you to return to base."

"You're not keeping me out of this!"

"Get back now!"

"Make me!"

Duo was snickering about the little spat, but then he had to turn his attention to concentrate on the other suits that suddenly came at him. Bolts rained down from several directions, and despite the attack, he managed to sweep the scythe to take out three. Through the explosion, he saw the lead suit aiming the deadly arrow at him. He was too close! He wouldn't be able to get his gundam out of the way. Duo cringed and braced himself, then closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the end.

"Lower!" The insubordinate pilot's voice came over the communicator.

"Shut up!"

"To the right!"

"You bitch! Keep your damn mouth shut!"

"Up a notch!"

Duo cracked open an eye to see the lead suit turn and fire the arrow intend for him at the other suit. The smaller suit flipped out of the way, and the arrow slammed into another, causing it to explode.

"Look what you made me do!"

"Were you shooting at me? Hah! As if you could hit me!" Crossbolts flew toward the mobile suit.

It maneuvered out of the way and two more of the suits were hit. Would one term that friendly fire? Duo started to laugh. This was more entertaining than watching Trynity Stryfe humiliate Chang Wufei! That reminded him of his original mission and wondered where Nelson's defense troops were. Is this how he defended the space above the Cinq Kingdom?

The lead suit drew a beam saber that flashed outward from both ends. Duo sat up to watch, then had to turn his attention briefly to the remaining suit that tried to attack. He blasted it with his vulcan guns, then waited for the debris to clear to watch the fight.

The smaller weapon also pulled the nasty looking double-sided beam saber.

Duo couldn't help but laugh as he watched them fight. "My money is on the chick," he said as she whacked the bigger suit on the side of the head, but he counted with a thrust to the belly of the smaller suit, that made it double over and tumble backwards. When the first suit turned back toward him, Duo realized he had overstayed his welcome. In the distance, he saw more suits approaching, and he couldn't count on the dueling enemies to keep up the distraction. So with great regret, he turned back towards Earth, leaving behind the Coalition forces.

By the time he arrived at Seaside, the sun was rising and he was exhausted. The door opened for him, and as he went down the cable from the cockpit, his thoughts stayed on coming up with a plan for what he would say to explain his behavior. He still didn't have a plan when his feet were finally on the floor and he was facing a ring of scientists.

Dr. J spoke first. "Why did you do that to my desk?" he demanded.

Professor G stood with Sam staring at Deathscythe. Poor Sam's eyes were bulging. "What have you done?" he finally demanded in horror.

Duo turned around and cringed as he saw the burn marks where the crossbolts tried to fry the gundanium. "Nothing a little touch of paint won't cure."

Sam didn't appreciate his grin. "You idiot!" He charged at him, but the two scientists grabbed his arms and Sally Po's voice stopped his struggle.

"What is going on? Duo!" She stomped across the hanger to confront him. "Duo Maxwell, where have you been?"

"A little joy-ride," he said with his grin, although he realized how ridiculous he looked standing before his battered gundam. "Well, at least it was a joy-ride for Noin."

Sally glared at him.

"Okay, okay! So I pulled a few strings and went to look for Trynity." She didn't seem sympathetic. "Hey! I was shot at in space! I was attacked on the way to the Cinq Kingdom Space Defense post."

Almost immediately the hanger erupted, from technicians scurrying to find any serious damage to the gundam, to programmers downloading information about the attack. Sally escorted Duo up to the main level of Seaside where he had breakfast. As he ate, he told Sally all about the fight in the desert, but she guessed most of what happened because Quatre had been controlling the mobile dolls from the lab. Then Duo recounted the space attack for Sally, and after she left Heero, Quatre, Trowa and Wufei joined him and he retold the story. But when they started to discuss it, Duo left and took the elevator up. He had intended to go to his own room to get some sleep, but he went to Trynity's room instead. She had locked it tight when she left, so he had to work on the circuits for three and half minutes before he finally broke in.

"Not bad, Miss Stryfe, but you can't keep out the god of death." He stepped in and sighed as he looked around the room. "Where are you Trynity Stryfe?" He walked to her dressing table and saw that her hairbrush was lying amongst a pile of hair accessory debris. He picked up the brush, and as he picked out the red and orange strands, he felt his heart aching as he thought of her danger in space. Duo had no doubt there would be fighting again, and soon if he was any judge. The Coalition was no longer a phantom collection of complainers, but an organized group with an army to back its ideals. When would the fighting ever end? Duo had been against staying in the Cinq Kingdom at the whim of Zechs Merquise, but now he understood why Miliardo Peacecraft believed that the gundams were essential to maintaining peace. There would always be someone unhappy with the way things were, someone who had no problem with sacrificing the lives of innocent people to further their own agendas. There would always be a need for the gundams.

"Get up, Duo!" Wufei was standing over him, and Duo blinked several times, then sat up. He must have fallen asleep in Trynity's room.

"What is going on?"

"They are planning an attack on the Coalition."

Duo rubbed his hands together as he stood up from the bed. "I am ready for some action."

"Sally wants us to meet in the conference room."

After showering and changing in his own room, he went directly to the conference room where he joined his fellow gundams pilots. They stood out of sight of the viewing screen. Their secret identity was essential, especially now when they were unsure of who was friend or foe.

Relena Peacecraft's face appeared on the screen. Standing behind her were Colonels Nelson and Benton. Duo couldn't help but dislike the Space Operations commander, but he couldn't put his finger on the exact reason.

"Relena, where is your brother?" asked Sally.

"I don't know! Colonel Benton told me I was in charge and that is that." Relena primped her hair. "Is Heero Yuy around?"

Heero grunted but did not respond.

"We have to contact your brother, Relena. There was an attack on the Deathscythe by the Coalition." But Relena wasn't listening. She was trying to look beyond Sally. Although he was well out of camera range, Heero moved behind Trowa. Duo almost laughed.

Colonel Nelson stepped forward. "Major Po, when did this attack take place."

"Two nights ago," she said. Duo had slept that long? "Deathscythe was training and flew out of the atmosphere. Approaching your post, it was attacked by several mobile suits of an unfamiliar design. I am transmitting data to you now as well as the visual replay of the battle."

Duo watched as Nelson and Benton watched a screen mounted on the wall. Relena was fidgeting and not paying any attention. Then she said, "I am the ruling princess now, so I can command anything."

"I'm going to put a gun to my own head," muttered Heero.

"If she rules the Cinq Kingdom, we may as well all do it," remarked Wufei.

"Do you have enough bullets?" asked Duo with a chuckle.

To his surprise, Heero pulled a gun from behind, flipped open the clip and checked. "Damn, I didn't reload after Miss Stryfe's supper escapade. There aren't enough for all of us. Someone will have to stay behind."

They looked at each other.

Sally glared at them as they did rock, paper scissors. Duo was the first one out, having handily beaten them all with the valuable information Miss Trynity Stryfe had given him. It had come in useful on more than one occasion. "One of those bullets has my name on it."

They all laughed.

"I command that Heero Yuy have tea with me this afternoon," announced Relena.

Nelson turned from the images on the screen he had been viewing of the two mobile suits fighting with their beam sabers. He was quite obviously furious.

"I don't know how that could have happened!" Nelson spoke with tight-lipped anger. "I have sufficient manpower on my post to have stopped such an attack."

"I'm beginning to wonder if Nelson could stop a turtle on its back," whispered Trowa.

"Prince Miliardo should not have such faith in him," agreed Wufei.

"Nor Noin," added Heero.

Sally put her hands on her hips and glared them into silence. Then she turned back to Relena who was openly pouting. "Relena, where could your brother have gone?"

"I don't know!" She turned to look at Benton. "Where is he?"

The young man shrugged. "I wasn't given that particular detail."

Heero snorted. "Benton knows. Benton knows everything about Miliardo Peacecraft."

Wufei looked at Duo. "You saw them last."

"Hey! Don't remind me! That is a sight I want to forget!" Duo rubbed his eyes.

"Well, then " said Sally. "in the absence of your brother, you are going to have to make some difficult decisions, Relena."

Relena started to open her mouth, but Colonel Nelson stepped toward her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "She is capable of playing a public role, but not of this type of decision-making. I am the ranking officer here. I shall plan a retaliatory strike. With the gundams, we should be able to rout the rebels and put an end to the Shadowhawk and the Coalition. We shall discuss this tomorrow when I will have a detailed strategy."

Before the transmission ended, they heard Relena trying to order Heero to take tea with her that afternoon.

Sally stared at the blank screen for a moment, then slowly turned to them. "What do you make of it?"

"There is nothing improper in Colonel Nelson taking command," remarked Trowa. "In this situation, it is the prudent course of action."

"I am ready to fight the Shadowhawk again," stated Heero. Then he added, "I am not taking tea."

"Hey, its not like you will be fighting the Zorbon Knight," laughed Duo. "Those guys weren't playing around."

"When have our opponents ever been playing around?" asked Wufei with annoyance.

Sally folded her arms over her chest. "I have tried, but I can't trust Lionel Nelson."

"I thought it was just me!" blurted Quatre. "He gives me the creeps!"

"Reminds me of Dorothy Catalonia," remarked Trowa.

Quatre opened his mouth to defend her, but he suddenly raised a brow in thought, then closed it. Seemed he saw the resemblance himself.

"Noin told me to trust him," Heero said. "And Miliardo Peacecraft trusted him enough to give him great power in space."

"That is something that worries me." Sally's words silence them all. "We need Zechs Merquise now."


	18. Paradise in the Desert

****

Sahara Desert

A cool breeze awoke Noin from her warm slumber, and for a moment, she lay still with her eyes closed. Where was she? She was in a soft bed, and except for the occasional breeze, her surroundings were very warm and dry. Noin also realized that she wasn't wearing any clothing.

Sitting up, she held a sheet to her and immediately groaned from the dull aches of her body. Now she remembered the blast from the mobile doll that had knocked her flat, but she couldn't remember what had happened after that. Looking around the luxuriously decorated suite, she knew she wasn't in a hospital. To the left where the breeze came from, she noted an exit, well, actually a glass door that opened to what appeared from her position to be a patio leading to a swimming pool. She could see the glimmering aqua water as the white curtains danced in the breeze.

Noin crawled from the bed, wrapping the sheet around her, then hunted for her clothing. She came up empty handed. Her head ached and she felt groggy as if she had slept far too many hours. Noin felt silly moving around wrapped in a sheet, but her clothing was nowhere in sight. Was this some type of prison? Miliardo had no reason to trust her anymore. Why did she let Duo talk her into such reckless behavior? Was he being punished as well? She sighed as she looked around. At least the bed was soft and her surroundings were pleasant. She might be able to stand it here for a while.

There was a basket of fruit on a table, and Noin realized that she was starving, so she grabbed and orange and sat down to peel it when a movement at the door caught her eye.

Miliardo walked in, just as bar as she except for a towed he had wrapped and tucked at his waist. His skin was sun-darkened, his long hair bleached almost white. The orange dropped from her hand as she stared, her mouth gaping open. What was going on?

The sound the orange made hitting the floor drew his attention. His lazy smile almost frightened her considering all that she had done in incur his anger.

"So you are finally awake."

Noin could only nod as he sauntered across the room. If it weren't for that towel, she suspected he would be as naked as she. Noin tucked the sheet tighter as he came close and leaned against the table, crossing his arms as he looked down at her.

"You have been asleep for thirty-six hours, twenty-one minutes and sixteen seconds."

She felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment and he chuckled. Trying to ignore him, she reached for the orange with one hand while holding the sheet with the other. "Where are we? Is this my new prison?"

Miliardo laughed and put his hand under her chin to raise her face to look at him. "Yes, Lucrezia, this is your new prison."

She swallowed her disappointment. What did she expect? Forgiveness?

Suddenly he lowered his head to kiss her, and she momentarily forgot the trouble she was in. Then he released her and put his hands on the table behind him to watch her with half-closed eyes. That pose was certainly disturbing, thought Noin. He was giving her that lazy smile that made her feel very warm and uncomfortable in an oh so pleasant way. She couldn't think.

"How…how long will I be here?" she forced herself to say.

He reached out to sift his hand through her hair. "Indefinitely."

"Oh." She should have expected it. She had forged his orders, tried to kill Vice-Minister Une, almost killed him, caused horrendous destruction in the Cinq Kingdom, stolen the Valkyrie…

His hand slide down her cheek to her neck where he caressed her throbbing pulse with his thumb. "And I, my dear Lucrezia, will be your jailer."

She looked in his eyes and saw the amusement he couldn't hide. Noin did not enjoy being the butt of his joke. She pushed his hand away. "You let me think that…"

"Lucrezia, I have no idea what you are thinking. Ever." He hooked a finger under the sheet and tried to pull it away. "It's a part of your mystery that intrigues me."

Noin shoved his hand away and held the sheet tighter to her. "What is going on? I insist on an explanation."

Miliardo pushed off the table and crossed the room where he poured a couple of drinks. "We are taking a well-deserved holiday."

"Taking a holiday?" Noin was aghast. When he returned to her handing her the drink, she almost choked on the first swallow as she noticed that this towel was slipping. She quickly looked at his face and found him smiling rather smugly. "Where is my clothing?" she demanded.

"wherever mine are."

"Where would that be?" Noin didn't dare look anywhere but his face. Miliardo seemed to be enjoying her discomfort.

"I suppose some are in the Valkyrie and I don't really know where we left the rest."

Her face must have turned redder than a beet as bits and pieces of her memory of the battle on the Sahara came back to her, especially how it had concluded in the cramped cockpit of the Valkyrie. Noin wante dto slide under the table with her embarrassment.

"I didn't think you knew how to blush," commented Miliardo with a laugh. "Roxie certainly didn't."

"I am not Roxie," she reminded him tartly.

"Too bad. We could have had a lot of fun." He set aside his drink and walked to the bed. "Now that you aren't thrashing around all over the place, I am going to take a nap."

She watched him lay down, her brows drawing together in a frown. Now what? He looked as if he were actually going to sleep! But Noin waited, certain that he was playing games with her until he started to snore. Loudly. Miliardo snored? Noin had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing, then set about searching her new prison. She certainly had no intention of waltzing around naked! But a detailed search made her realize he was telling the truth. She couldn't even find his clothing. What kind of punishment was this?

After rearranging her sheet into a type of toga, she began her search for the telecom. Sally might be able to give her some answers. But she could not find it anywhere. Nor did she see another living person in her search through the small structure. The bungalow consisted of a kitchen, bathroom and this huge bedroom suite that opened to a patio and a large, oblong swimming pool. Throwing open the door, she was amazed to see a helicopter landing pad, and beyond that, endless desert. Apparently this structure had been built on a rare oasis, or one had been made to accommodate it.

Aggravated, she returned to the bed, sat on the edge for a moment and watched Miliardo snore for a few moments, then shoved him on his side to stop the noise. So she was stuck here with prince charming who snored loud enough to wake sleeping beauty. At least he stopped after he was on his side. With nothing better to do, she lay down beside him and stared at the ceiling.

Suddenly he turned around, and he was above her grinning. "I didn't think you would ever get into bed."

There was no escape! But as Miliardo's lips found hers and his hands were removing her carefully constructed toga, she realized that she didn't really want to escape. Not from this jailer.

Much later, he was snoring again. Noin jabbed him to wake him.

"What…what.." he flipped to look at her. "Are we under attack?"

Noin laughed. "How would we know? Now, really, Miliardo, where is the telecom? I want to contact Sally."

"There isn't any."

She frowned at him. "So who is running the Cinq Kingdom?"

He yawned and stretched. "I left Relena in charge."

"Relena!" Many horrifying scenarios started to play through her mind. "No, Miliardo, please tell me that you are joking! You didn't leave her in charge!"

"What harm could she possibly do? I checked my schedule before I left, rather Benton did. A few ribbon-cutting ceremonies, visits to hospitals, tea with the Cinq Kingdom matrons, etc., etc. A rather innocuous week. Besides, Lionel was there when I left. If there is an emergency, he can handle it."

"Like he handles the problems in space?" She propped herself up on an elbow, absent-mindedly wrapping one of his long blond strands around her finger.

"I don't think you like him," stated Miliardo. "I thought you were friends."

"He makes me uncomfortable." She unwrapped the hair from her finger, then sighed. Noin couldn't look at Miliardo. "Before you came to the academy, Nelson and I…"

His blond brows shot up. "You and Lionel?"

"We dated a few times," she confessed, and when she noticed the angry light in his blue eyes, she hurried to explain, leaving out details he didn't need to know. "It was nothing serious!"

"Just what does 'nothing serious' mean to you?" he demanded.

"Don't be unreasonable! I didn't even know you at the time."

Miliardo laid back and stared at the ceiling. "all this time I thought he was my friend."

Noin made a sound of disgust. "You aren't jealous, are you?"

"Should I be?" He looked at her. "How do you think Lionel feels?" Miliardo was remembering the look he had given Noin that day when they first encountered the Shadowhawk. Now he closed his eyes, rubbing them. "Lucrezia, why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Because it was none of your business!" she snapped irritably. 

Miliardo glared at her. "So now I have left my kingdom in the hands of your jilted boyfriend."

"That was a long time ago!" Noin was flustered.

"Not long enough for him!" Miliardo got up and started to pace. "It all makes sense now!"

Noin didn't bother with the sheet as she stood to face him. "What are you talking about?"

"The attacks, his lack of response to threats in space, the appearance of the Shadowhawk after he went on record for trying to stop Ivan Stryfe." Miliardo looked at her. "Nelson is involved with the Coalition. How much, I can only imagine."

"Then we have to get out of here! Where is the telecom, Miliardo?"

"There isn't one! And we wont' be disturbed for a week."

"A week!" Noin was beside herself with anger. "What were you thinking? Is there no way out?"

Miliardo didn't really want to tell her that there was none. She might become violent. "Relax. There is nothing we can do for now. I doubt Nelson will do anything drastic yet, especially since he doesn't know where I am and he certainly doesn't know that you are alive. I don't think the Coalition has a force that can challenge the gundams, and Nelson has no clue who the pilots are. They are our aces in the hole."

Noin wasn't mollified in the slightest. She stood glaring at him. So much for the romantic getaway he had planned. The Winner villa was going to go to waste. Even Quatre didn't know where he had taken Noin and his faithful Magaunacs had taken the Valkyrie and Epyon away to hide from any World and Space Alliance patrols. Miliardo wished he had the foresight to let Benton know. Benton was level headed. He would keep the worst of the damage contained.

As for his cozy little nest in the desert? Miliardo hoped the floor was comfortable.


	19. The Coalition prepares for battle

****

Coalition Base

Trynity brought her father a cup of coffee, then sat beside him. His computer screen was already blank by the time he took the coffee from her. As she sipped from her own mug, she glanced at his papers hoping to get a clue about his secret work, but she saw only random strings of etters and numbers, many crossed out. Trynity could make no sense of it.

"How are you feeling today, pumpkin?"

She glanced at him, suddenly embarrassed. Her head ached and she had a sour stomach. Trynity didn't remember singing nursery rhymes after being dragged from her damaged mobile suit. She suspected Dr. Stryfe of Over-exaggerating her inebriation. She would remember singing Itsy Bitsy Spider, wouldn't she? And where had she learned that rhyme?

He was still waiting for her answer. "I have learned a lesson," she told him before sipping more coffee.

Her father watched her as she drank some of his. "I trust you to take better care of yourself in the future with young Nelson. He is a bit older and a bit wiser in the ways of the world."

While she was glad of his confidence in her and wasn't lecturing her, a part of Trynity wished he would take a more active role in her personal life. As a child she had gotten in his way, and as a young adult, she felt more like a lab assistant than a daughter. Since her arrival at the Coalition base, Trynity wasn't sure what role she had in his life. Unfortunately, she concluded that she was just the pilot of his creation.

"The double-edged beam saber is prepared for the Shadowhawk," he told her, cementing her conclusion. "But you need more preparation in order to use it with any kind of proficiency. I have a replay of your litle training display yesterday." He flipped on the computer screen and keyed in a code, and Trynity cringed, not wanting to see her drunken behavior of the day before.

But instead of the battle, Duo Maxwell's face appeared. "Okay, you got me. I'm looking for Trynity."

"Oops!" Her father chuckled. "Wrong file!" He seemed to take an unusually long time finding the correct code. Duo's face remained frozen on the screen. Trynity couldn't help but stare at him and his silly, adorable grin. Then she shuddered. Was she still drunk? How could she think that he actually liked her? What would he see in her anyway? He was probably hoping to get her to return so that he could copy her homework.

The screen went blank, and she felt a little empty inside until she heard her father chuckle. Trynity frowned at him, then realized she was touching the necklace. She shouldn't even wear the damn thing!

"You aren't going to talk about him, are you, pumpkin?"

"There is nothing to talk about," she snapped. Only a few moments ago she wanted him to be more like a father, and now she wanted him to butt out. She wasn't going to tell him anything!

"I do know that he is one of Miliardo Peacecraft's wards. You lived under the same roof." He wriggled his brows.

Trynity gritted her teeth and slammed down her coffee mug. Just what did he mean by that? "There is nothing to talk about!"

He chuckled. "You would be amazed by what I can find with this computer. School records, for example." He raised a brow. "Discipline records. You'd think they would lock some of that private material a little tighter. Even an inexperienced hacker such as myself can find out information that shouldn't be available to the general public about the antics of teenagers at the Academy."

Her face was flaming, and she had nothing to say to explain herself. Her thoughts centered on that incident in Headmaster Himmler's outer office, when Duo had tried to kiss her.

Dr. Stryfe now laughed and pinched her cheek. "I never thought my Trynity would be anything but a model student. I only tried to find something out about that young Duo Maxwell that has you all a twitter. I wasn't expecting to find dozens of reports about your behavior." He winked as he put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "I only hope that you and young Maxwell had fun terrorizing your teachers."

Trynity shrugged off his arm. "It wasn't like that! I didn't terrorize anybody! And certainly not in collusion with that lame-brain."

He nodded, but clearly didn't believe her. 

"Well," she conceded, "perhaps I could have been a bit nicer to Dr. Plume, after all, he probably wasn't able to stay current in the latest research findings." When he raised a skeptical brow, she sighed. "All right! I didn't like Miss Dimster one bit! But I did not destroy that ratty old bear of hers. Those other jackasses did it!"

"You didn't mention that business in the headmaster's office," he commented with a raised brow.

"I don't want to talk about it!" She saw no point in discussing something she didn't understand herself. Besides, it hurt to remember. Duo Maxwell had been toying with her!

"Well," he said after a moment of silence. "Your fun is over. There is only work for the Coalition in your future. You certainly don't have time to waste planning what to wear to the Spring Ball."

Although she had spilled most of her coffee, Trynity picked up the mug and drank more. "Does this work bother you?" she asked, her eyes looking past him to the technicians outside the lab in the hanger working to refit the Taurus suits to transform them into Sagitariens.

Her father sighed and pressed keys on his computer. "I cannot say that I am pleased to be here, pumpkin, but I have become a realist. In time of war, the generals turn to scientists. What difference does it make for whom I do my work? I couldn't keep you in deep space anymore, with only me and the Shadowhawk for company. I had believed that Miliardo Peacecraft would maintain peace, that he would encourage my work while you found out there was more to life than that gundam. But the more I learn of him, the more I am sure that my life in the Cinq Kingdom would be little different than it is here. He is a man of war. The fact that he did not destroy the gundams as a sign of his commitment to peace proves it."

"But he did not begin this war," she argued.

"We are not to decide who begins a war or who is justified. I build the machines, and you use them to carry out missions."

Trynity was disappointed in her father's ambivalence. He truly didn't seem to care, and as a result, nor did she. He was disillusioned by the forces that bent him to their will, first Barton, now Nelson. Although a man with peaceful ideals, he had spent most of his life perfecting machines of destruction. She realized that her father never once mentioned escaping; he even seemed content with his work for the Coalition. Trynity could not afford to consider whether what they did was right or wrong, or even whose side they should fight. She had no choice, and even if she did, how could she decide? Was the jealous, resentful Nelson in the wrong? Or was he right for rebelling against the devious Miliardo Peacecraft who hid gundams he had been ordered to destroy while pretending to champion peace? For better of worse, Trynity was a Coalition soldier.

After reviewing with her father the battle from the day before, she realized by watching Lars' movements against her, that he was not training her honestly. She made her way to the training deck where she found him steadfastly practicing with the bow. He shot a final arrow that found dead center before he turned to her.

"I didn't think I would see you all day, Trynity Stryfe."

She frowned as she took off her jacket and picked up a staff leaning against the wall. "There is work to be done." Trynity wanted to club Lars who stood smirking at her, but she forced herself to be calm as he set aside the bow. They both knew he had purposely gotten her drunk; and she had made a fool of herself. Had the gundam not appeared, she wasn't sure what would have happened between them. Trynity could not forgive that.

Lars took up his staff. "I should call you Itsy Bitsy Trynity."

Her face heated with embarrassment. "Shut up! You were ordered to train me, and you have held back."

Lars did not deny it. He smiled and she gripped the staff tighter in her hands. "I thought it prudent to keep some of my secrets. I wouldn't want you using them on me."

"Is that all?" She snorted contemptuously. "Then you have my word that I will not engage you in combat again. Your secrets will be our secrets."

He took a step closer to her. "We could share a lot more, Trynity."

Trynity swung the staff, but he parried it, expecting her to react. He was as aggravating as Duo Maxwell, but in a different, dangerous way. "Just teach me."

His dark, intense gaze fixed on hers. She couldn't look away. "There is much I could teach you, Itsy Bitsy, but this place isn't really conducive to it." He took a step toward her, the staff dropping from his hands. Then his hands were over his and he towered above her. Trynity's heart was racing and she couldn't breathe. He bent his head to her, and she raised her face to him.

The telcom buzzed, and she reacted by swinging up the staff. Lars barely ducked in time to avoid a nasty blow to the head. He swore viciously, then marched to the screen set in the wall. He punched the button to answer. His brother's face appeared, and Trynity could see that the elder Nelson was furious by the stony set to his features.

"I am surprised, brother, that I would find the two of you in the training room. Your lack of skill, the both of you, make me wonder what you two actually do in there."

Trynity shot Lars an angry look, then stepped forward. "I assure you, colonel, that the problem will be rectified."

"As usual, Lieutenant Stryfe, I have complete faith in you." Colonel Nelson sneered at his brother. "As for you, Lars, I suggest you follow Lieutenant Stryfe's example."

Lars didn't respond, but Trynity knew he was quaking with fury. Good. They might have a meaningful training session instead of his practice attempt to seduce her. How had she been so naïve as to fall for it again!

"In thirty-six hours," continued Colonel Nelson, "You will be engaging in battle against the Cinq Kingdom. Three of the five gundams will leave Earth accompanied by four dozen Leos and two dozen Taurus suits. The Leos will come from the Dover base, and the Taurus suits from the Space Outpost will rendezvous with them. Their orders are to destroy the Coalition forces."

"Will there be any mobile dolls?" asked Lars.

"Indeed. They will also be dispatched from the outpost, but they will be under my control." Trynity knew by that unpleasant smile that the mobile dolls would not be attacking the Coalition forces. "During the battle, I will be returning to the base on a command shuttle."

"You said three of the five gundams," pointed out Lars. "Where are the others? Why don't they attack together?"

Nelson continued to smile. "I thought it best to split them up. Major Po is suspicious, but she cannot change my orders. The two other gundams will follow with reinforcements, but by the time they enter battle it will be too late."

"Are the gundams to be destroyed?" asked Trynity. She hated to think of such fine mobile suits being rendered to space debris to be collected and used by Nelson.

"No. We will capture them and give the pilots an opportunity to rethink their allegiance."

"There are seven gundams on Earth," Trynity reminded him. "The Epyon has surely been repaired by now, and there is the other gundam which engaged the Shadowhawk, gundam 08."

"Yes, the gundam known as the Valkyrie. They are unavailable. Seems Miliardo Peacecraft took out both on a training expedition and he has not returned." Nelson snorted with disgust. "I have no doubt his little holiday has something to do with that female that has him tied in knots. He will regret his lack or logical priorities."

"Miliardo Peacecraft will pursue you," predicted Lars.

Nelson laughed. "Zechs Merquise would pursue, and he would be merciless, but since he has become Miliardo Peacecraft, he has grown soft and useless. He has even allowed his hands to be tied by the Cinq Kingdom Assembly."

"Don't underestimate your enemy," commented Trynity.

"I will leave my enemies in your capable hands, Lieutenant Stryfe. See that you do not repeat the debacle of yesterday." The transmission ended.

Lars stared at the blank screen for a moment, then turned back to Trynity. "We have thirty-six hours. I thought we would have longer, but now we will have to spend every spare moment in here." He sighed regrettably. "Training. If you do not learn to use the double-beam saber by then, you will be defeated by gundam 02."

He didn't need to tell her. "And you surely realize that if you do not hit your targets, you will leave yourself vulnerable to attack."

By the look in his eyes, she knew he had already surmised that.

"So we train," he said.  
"Or we will die."


	20. Seaside Lab prepares for battle

Seaside Laboratory

Sally Po finished her briefing, but her audience remained silent for a moment before Quatre blurted. "I don't like this!"

Duo silently agreed, and not because he wasn't in the first wave of gundams to take on the Coalition forces. He didn't mind going in to sweep up the remains with his scythe when the battle was wearing this. Colonel Nelson's plan just didn't feel right.

"I do not believe Prince Miliardo would split our force," said Wufei. "He would strike with full strength to crush them immediately."

Sally sighed. "I agree, Wufei, but Prince Miliardo is not here."

"He didn't get capture by the enemy, did he?" asked Trowa. They all looked to Duo for an answer.

"Hey! I have nothing to do with his disappearance." He threw up his hands. "Last time I saw them.."

"All right," interrupted Sally. "We don't' need to hear that story again. We may not know where he is, but we do know that when he returns, he will not be pleased."

"That is putting it mildly," said Heero. "And Noin is going to detonate when she finds out Nelson planned this attack. I don't believe she would split us up either."

"We all have to follow orders," stated Sally as she stood. "I suggest you guys get some rest. Tomorrow you will need to be wide awake."

They watched her go, then Heero said, "I can pay a visit to Relena, and while I am there I will introduce Nelson to my gun."

Duo chuckled. "You mean you would actually go to Relena?"

Heero bit his lip as he rethought his options, then said, "Maybe it's not such a good idea."

"If I had to choose between being friend by a beam cannon tomorrow and putting myself in Relena's hands for the afternoon just to avoid it…" Trow let the sentence hang, but everyone knew the conclusion.

Quatre stood. "Dorothy is expecting me tonight."

"Beam cannon or Dot?" asked Trowa.

They all responded, including Quatre, "Beam cannon."

He was still laughing as he left. Poor Quatre.

Heero looked at Trowa. "No Catherine tonight?"

"The circus is out of town." 

"A pity," remarked Heero.

"Very much so," returned Trowa. Although Trowa was disappointed that the emergency kept him from performing, he wasn't too disappointed to be kept away from Catherine Bloom. Duo thought his relationship with her was even more bizarre than Quatre's with Dorothy. Either way, they both were lead around by women.

Wufei stood. "I have better things to do than sit around and talk about women."

When he had gone, Trowa and Heero laughed again. They all knew Wufei was probably going to find Sally on some ridiculous excuse of needing a review of the plans. Although they went through a lot to keep their relationship a secret, Seaside Lab was not so big a place that they could hide their private moments together. Duo had even seen them huddled together in the shadow of the Altron gundam. So Miss Po, is that appropriate?

He sighed sadly and lowered his head. What did it matter? Trynity was gone, and it seemed for good now. In the two days he had been back, Sally wouldn't hear of his search, and he knew it had to be put on hold until after this nasty business with Coalition. That was plenty of time for her to return to L10 and she might as well be on the other side of the universe. He might never see her again, and that was far worse than the possibility that tomorrow's mission might be doomed to failure.

Heero sat beside him after Trowa left. "You aren't worried about tomorrow, are you?"

Duo shook his head.

They sat together in silence for a few minutes before Heero spoke again. "You got it bad."

"Why me?" wondered Duo out loud. "Why her? Damn, but she was obnoxious! She wasn't even pretty."

"I don't know about that," commented Heero. "I never gave her a second look until the Stardust Ball. But now that I think about it, those crooked glasses were hiding some damn pretty eyes, and that smile…"

Duo laughed. "A killer smile. A guy could die for that."

Heero put his hand on his shoulder. "You could, Duo, if you don't concentrate tomorrow. As for Trynity Stryfe, when she gets over her little hissy fit, she will come slinking back here."

"What makes you so sure?"

Heero shrugged. "We are her family, aren't we?" With that, he left.

Duo also left the hanger to go for a walk on the beach, and he stopped to look at the bright, full moon. He had stood there in the sand for a long time staring up at the sky, knowing in his heart that Trynity was up there in space somewhere. Tomorrow was just a little delay before he could search for her again. No one was going to stop him. He would find Trynity Stryfe and bring her back to her new family.

"Duo?"

He turned to see Hilde standing a few feet behind him. She was holding a blanket in her arms. "What do you want?"

She shifted her feet. "I know that you are going on a mission tomorrow. Dorothy told me."

"What business is it of yours?"

She tossed the blanket so that it spread out on the sand then went to him to put her arms around him. "Duo, can't you forgive me, just a little?" She raised her face to his. "You are going to be in a lot of danger tomorrow. We might not see each other again."

"And I would consider that a bad thing?" Did she think he would kiss her?

Hilde put her hand on his cheek and rubbed her body up against him. "I would, Duo." Her fingers slid into his hair and she was pulling his head down to hers.

"Hey! Back off! Stop messing with my hair." He jerked her hand away and shoved her back.

Hilde put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot in the sand. "Why must you be so stubborn? It's not like we haven't done this before! Plenty of times!"

"You don't get it, Hilde! Get lost!"

"Is it because of Quatre?"

"Why should I care what you did with him?" Duo started to walk away. He wished she would just leave! She was spoiling his thoughts of Trynity, and making him feel lower than a dog for taking advantage of Hilde when he didn't have any feelings for her. This beach belonged to him and Trynity, and his memories should be of him and that prickly thistle girl. She had showed him a side to her that no one else had seen. He had fallen like a dead weight for her on this beach. Now he had Hilde nagging at him, reminding him that they had done the blanket hustle more than a few times. That was definitely an unpleasant memory.

"You're jealous!" Hilde was laughing.

Duo stopped. He might have to beat her senseless to get it through her head. "No, Hilde, I am not jealous." He looked at her face. "Listen! Clean out your ears! Look at me and listen to my words. I will even speak slowly so that you understand. I am not jealous. We had some fun, Hilde, but I have moved on. I'm not taking a step back to be with you. We are through. Over. Done. Finished. Washed up."

Hilde stared at him for a moment in silence, then said, "I did bring the blanket. Why let it go to waste?"

Duo threw up his hands and walked away. Women were exasperating!

She chased after him and caught him by the door to the hanger. "You aren't crying over Trynity Stryfe, are you? What do you think you owe her, anyway?"

"Owe her?" Duo poked Hilde in the middle of her forehead as he spoke to her now. "You don't get it, Hilde! You don't want to get it! What I feel for her, I never felt for you."

She stared at him blankly, then she seemed to understand, and he saw big, fat tears in her eyes. He hated it when she cried! Quickly he keyed in his code on the door of the hanger. "You never cared about me!"

"Nope!" The door didn't move. Duo tried his code again.

"After all we have been to each other, how could you do this to me?" She was sobbing hysterically.

Duo pounded on the door. "Hey, let me in!"

Hilde grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him around. "I hope you never find her! Better yet, I hope that when you do, she's already 'moved on' and treats you like you have treated me!"

The door slid open and Duo fell inside. It quickly shut, leaving Hilde swearing at him on the other side. Duo looked up to see Trowa and Heero standing over him, not bothering to hide their mischievous grins.

"That was cruel," he told them gruffly as Trowa pulled him to his feet.

"And very ugly," added Heero.

"But amusing," said Trowa.

Duo chuckled. "I suppose so! But I think I finally got through to her."

Trowa flipped on the microphone outside the door, which they had used to eavesdrop on him. They could hear Hilde.

"Duo, come back out. Please! I forgive you!"

"Crap!" Duo stomped away as Heero and Trowa laughed. He found Howard, Professor G and Sam near the Deathscythe. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Sam cut him off from his gundam. "You are not getting one step closer until tomorrow."

Howard laughed. "What he is trying to say, Duo, is that Deathscythe is ready for combat."

Duo tried to reach around Sam to touch it, but the technician slapped his hand. "Testy!" He jumped up on some supply boxes and stretched out. "I think I will stay here tonight."

Sam raised a brow. "I have no intention of falling asleep while you are down here."

Howard snorted. "Duo won't do anything. Go get some rest, Sam, and I will keep an eye on our young pilot."

Same reluctantly obeyed, but not without shooting Duo one last warning scowl before stomping away. Duo laced his hands behind his head and stared up at his gundam.

"Hey, Howard, you know how they consider ships as "she". Well, do you think gundams are shes or hes?"

Howard snickered. "I am sure I don't know. What do you think?"

Duo glanced at him. "Between you and me, I think Sandrock is a she." 

Professor G snorted with laughter.

"And Altron, I am quite sure is a he." He looked across the hanger at Wufei's gundam. He caught a movement in the shadows and smiled. Wufei and Sally Po! He would have to check out what was so interesting in those shadows some time.

"Wing and Heavyarms are hes."

Howard cleared his throat. "Seems as though you have it figured out. What have you decided about your own?"

"Well, it must be a he, but the more I find out about women, the more I am thinking he might be a she."

"Thinking about a particular woman?" asked Howard although he was not really paying much attention.

"That sharp-tongued Trynity Stryfe."

"Hmm."

"She cut me in half, just like Deathscythe does my enemies."

"You seem to be in one piece," remarked Professor G. "If you aren't, perhaps you had better get it together before tomorrow."

"Hey, don't worry about me!" Duo stared up at his gundam. "I would never do anything to endanger the mission or Deathscythe." And that is why Duo thought his gundam was like Trynity. His strongest feelings had always been for his gundam, but closing his eyes now, he saw Trynity's face after he had kissed her, felt that skip of his heart when he looked into her eyes.

There were things more important than Deathscythe Hell.

  



	21. Battle on the Beach

****

Coalition Base

"It's time to go."

Trynity stood at the base of the Shadowhawk, her eyes shifting from the door of the hanger to the observation deck above. She had gone to her father's lab before coming here, but he was not there. One of the technicians informed her that he was making adjustments to the cloaking net he had created for the Sagitarien force. Although the opposing gundams would likely be able to find the Shadowhawk were it cloaked alone, their sensors would fail against the net devised around the Sagitariens. Behind them she would follow in the Shadowhawk with Lars in the Artemis.

Lars was waiting at her side. "He is not coming. We have to go."

She was heartbroken and tried not to show it, but a tear slid down her cheek. Trynity felt as if her father had abandoned her. She hadn't expected his approval, but she was going into battle and they might never see each other again.

Lars wiped the tear away with his then, then took her face in his hands to raise it to his. "He would be here, if he could. Now we have to go." Trynity didn't react when he leaned down to kiss her. She just didn't feel anything but sadness. "It is time to become a soldier, Itsy Bitsy," Lars whispered in her ear.

Trynity sighed and looked at his face. The concern he showed her was genuine, and she realized that she was foolish to expect Ivan Stryfe to see her off on a mission of killing. He had done his part by provided her with the weapon and adequate protection, but he could never condone the path her life had taken.

"I will see you in space," she said to Lars, then hopped on the cable lift to her gundam cockpit. As she rose, she bent forward to kiss him on the lips. Trynity laughed at the expression on his face. "Don't make an ass of yourself, Captain Nelson."

When she reached the opening to the cockpit, she stepped inside. After pulling on her space suit, she settled into the seat and strapped herself in. All systems were at their optimum, so she activated the Shadowhawk. She noticed that Lars had gotten into the Artemis as well. He was the commanding officer, so she waited for him to exit first, and when he did, she followed. They blasted up and away from the base together. They would not be competing today.

Although the odds were stacked against the gundams, Trynity knew they would go down kicking and screaming, so she knew that in order to survive, she must team up with Lars. Since his brother's call, they had trained relentlessly until his shots did not stray the mark and she had learned to handle the staff with ease and precision. Until she met gundam 02, however, she would use the bow, flail and heaven's tears to decimate the ranks of the enemy.

The cloak net engaged almost immediately and Trynity felt pride her father's genius as the army of the Sagitariens disappeared behind the Taurus suits. The fleet from Earth was approaching without taking formation, a sign that they had not discovered anything but the Taurus suits and did not perceive them as a threat. Trynity searched the radio frequencies to hear their communications, but they were fuzzy and far away because of the interference caused by the energy field.

"Do you see the Shadowhawk?"

"I see nothing but Taurus."

"This is child's play."

"I am picking up some abnormal readings ahead."

Trynity watched in her viewing screen as gundam 03, otherwise known as Heavyarms, began to fire on the approaching Taurus suits. They did not realize that the mobile dolls were decoys, their purpose solely to use up the gundams' firepower. Gundam 04, Sandrock, was slicing away with is heat shotels, and Wing gundams was flying about like a bird picking worms from the ground, taking out suits with merciless precision.

But the Sagitariens did not appear until the last of the Taurus suits had been destroyed, and then Trynity smiled to hear the string of foul language coming from the gundam pilots as they fought to protect themselves from the storm of crossbolts and rounds from beam rifles. Behind Trynity, the transport ships began to arrive, expecting a quick battle, after which they would collect the gundams and haul them back to the Coalition base.

"Are you ready, lieutenant?" asked Lars.

In answer, she de-cloaked the Shadowhawk just as the mobile dolls behind the gundams began to attack. She soared downward with her bow nocked and sent an arrow sailing at the Sandrock gundam as its attention was diverted to fighting a Sagitarien and two Taurus mobile dolls that had accompanied them into space. The gundam shuddered for a moment after the arrow hit, then became dark before beginning to drift. The Heavyarms gundam came at the Shadowhawk, firing missiles that she dived to avoid just as the Artemis flew in from above, sending two glowing arrows at the gundam. Heavyarms sent out one last round of missiles before falling as dark and silent as Sandrock.

As they both turned their attention to the Wing gundam, mobile suits fought around them. The manned suits sent from the Cinq Kingdom fought valiantly, but were not match for the mobile dolls and the forces sent from the Coalition base. Trynity noted on her communicator that Colonel Nelson had already sent the order for the remaining two gundams to join the fight. Trynity was so intent on awaiting gundam 02 that she didn't realize Wing gundam was flying straight at her until it crashed into the Shadowhawk. They tumbled together, smashing into other mobile suits, friend and foe alike. Trynity guessed the astute pilot realized that he would not be fired upon by the arrow while he was connected to the Shadowhawk. Trynity hoped Lars realized that hitting the Wing gundam also meant hitting her. They wrestled then, Trynity trying to throw off the Wing gundam, the Wing gundam refusing to be shaken.

Finaly the Artemis flew towards them with the beam saber activated, and Wing zero had no choice but to defend itself. When it raised its shield, Trynity flung out the energy stars, knocking backward into the Artemis' assault. They dueled with beam sabers as Trynity nocked two arrows. The Wing gundam fell like a downed bird, and Lars unloaded another arrow at it as it tried to regain control.

Tough bird, thought Trynity. A worthy opponent.

"Gundam 02 is approaching," warned Lars.

Trynity checked her radar and saw nothing. She quickly changed to visual and saw the ghastly vision fast approaching with its scythe raised, its dark bat wings unfolded. Trynity had been in this position before, but this time she doubted it would lose power and allow her to escape. Although her heart was racing as she watched the macabre gundam draw nearer, she forced her hand to be still on the controls. When it was almost upon her, she hit the boosters and accelerated away at high velocity, wings drawn back to increase speed. When she reached the full height of her climb, she threw on the cloak and turned to view the battlefield. Gundam 05 was fighting the Artemis, and the mobile suits were still engaged in a pitched battle that would ultimately lead to victory for the superior force of the Coalition. Where was gundam 02? She didn't see it anywhere.

**********

"Looky, looky, what I found!"

Duo was snickering about the ease in which he was going to decapitate the Shadowhawk. This was easier than he thought it would be. The pilot hadn't even realized that he followed it, and he was glad Sam had cranked the power in his accelerating systems. That dude was going to get a well deserved high-five. Duo had even overshot the gundam, but now it worked to his advantage as he hovered above it. He could not see it except on the energy scope Howard had installed for just such a purpose, but Duo knew it was right below him, a helpless little bird. He was so close he could reach out and give it a little tap with Deathscythe's foot. Instead he drew back the scythe to strike.

But his attack was stalled when the Shadowhawk spun around, materialized and his scythe was hug up on what appeared to be a double-edge beam saber, very similar to the one used by the Valkyrie. Duo tried to get a reading on the energy levels of the weapon, but his scan was jammed. Frowning, he spun around and attacked again, but the Shadowhawk stopped his deadly scythe. This time he was thrown back and treated to a colorful display as the Shadowhawk twirled the beam saber, and he was so mesmerized y the pinwheel effect that he didn't notice the attack until the arm of his gundam was trembling with energy surges. He quickly fired missiles before the energy surge detonated them and blew the arm of his gundam. Sam wouldn't like that! The Shadowhawk took the missile hit on a shield, but it flew back, and Deathscythe pursued. Damn, this was as tough as fighting Noin. Damn good thing he went on that little training mission with her. He doubted he would be congratulated on his foresight.

Duo could see around him that the battle was lost. The mobile suits were no match for the treachery of Colonel Nelson, and he felt anger that men had lost their lives to the mobile dolls controlled by the traitor. He saw the transport ships loading the deactivated gundams as if they were dead bodies, and he despaired for his friends and fellow pilots, his family, as Heero had said. Were they alive in those gundams? They were surely unconscious or they would have detonated the gundams rather than let them fall into the hands of the enemy.

He attacked the Shadowhawk with fury, slashing and hacking, and each attack met with the parry of the beam saber. The pilot was skilled, but he was surely tiring. Duo didn't know how much longer he could continue the fight. The energy levels were beginning to run low, due in no small part to that little boost to acceleration. He could see that the Altron was hit, but the mobile suit that had attacked him on his last trip into space was not moving to assist the Shadowhawk. So they wanted an honorable duel? Well, he was not an honorable guy!

Duo hacked away for a few more minutes, then used what remained of his energy to boost towards Earth. "I may run and hide," he began with a snicker, then didn't finish. That was exactly what he was going to do. He would come back to fight another day. Next time with Zechs Merquise and Lucrezia Noin.

He assumed that the Shadowhawk would not pursue him to Earth, but he was wrong. Duo could not believe the audacity of the Coalition pilot, but he shouldn't have been surprised. Now he knew he was in for another battle. He barely had time to locate a deserted area in the Southern Hemisphere where few, if any civilians, would either witness or become victims of the combat between the two gundams. When he landed on the small island, the Shadowhawk landed nearby.

Now what? They stood facing each other for several minutes before Duo raised the scythe and activated the beams. It was flickering. After uttering several words that would blister Mrs. Drivel's ears, he noted that the double-beam was also losing power. They stood ready to fight, but suddenly the Shadowhawk deactivated the beam saber and dropped it on the sandy beach. Duo raised the scythe, and with an evil smile, attacked, but the beam died and he felt like a fool hitting the Shadowhawk with the handle. He had no more power and no more weaponry.

The Shadowhawk drew the flail. A few whacks with that and Duo knew he would have another headache. Good thing he was strapped in this time and already on the ground. But the Shadowhawk dropped the mace on the ground beside the beam saber. Duo knew it meant the pilot planned to fight one of those ridiculous duels. He wasn't really up to that, so he tried to smash Shadowhawk again, but the gundam caught the handle of the scythe in both hands. Now Duo couldn't move. But then, in this position, the Shadowhawk couldn't use that damn bow.

Congratulating himself on what he perceived was a victory, Duo unbuckled, shrugged out of his space suit and picked up his gun, ignoring the sword issued by the Cinq Kingdom. He had every intention of putting a bullet right between the eyes of the Shadowhawk pilot. Screw the sword fight. He didn't know how to use the fancy toothpick anyway. The Shadowhawk pilot would be expecting the sword, these honorable types did, and by its reluctance to finish him off, he knew the pilot was one of those. He wouldn't be expecting bullets. Duo checked to make sure the gundam was loaded, then opened the door to the cockpit and stepped out. There was a warm breeze, and the sun was setting. Duo had little doubt the pilot would swagger out carrying a sword. Duo preferred the swift end. A bit messier, but very effective.

The door to the Shadowhawk opened slowly. Duo watched it with fascination until it came to a stop. His gun was behind his back, tucked now in his waistband. He started to raise his hands to surrender, but his eyes were drawn up the length of the door until he came to the feet of his opponent, the stealthy pilot of the Shadowhawk. At first he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing, then it hit him like an arrow straight through the heart. Those shoes! They were untied!

His head snapped up to see the tangled red and orange curls to confirm what could not be true. Then he saw the gun, pointing straight at him, and any words he might have said were cut off by the report of the gun. Duo hit the deck out of instinct and he felt the bullet whiz past his head. Damn! She was trying to kill him!

She shot again, and Duo rolled, barely catching hold of the edge of the door, and the hot bullet ricocheted several times before disappearing. His own gun slipped from his waistband and fell into the sand below. He twisted to look at her and saw that she was trying to get better aim as he dangled. Duo was a sitting duck until he realized that the cable to descend had automatically engaged when the door opened. He swung back and forth, then leapt the distance, grabbing it in his hands and holding desperately. Duo then quickly scrambled down the cable and when his feet hit the sand, he dived for his gun.

But the barrel of a pistol was in his face as his hand touched it.

"Don't bother." Her voice was as cold and deadly as her gun. He should have known she would find the easiest way to the bottom. His hand was itching to grab his own gun. But Duo didn't know if he could actually shoot Trynity Stryfe. She certainly didn't seem to have any qualms about unloading hot lead into him!

He laughed nervous as he slowly moved his hand away. "Hey, listen, Trynity, if this is about the dance…"

She didn't give him a chance to finish. She kicked out and her foot caught him in the chin, throwing him back. He tasted blood in his numb mouth and his neck hurt. "Shut up, Duo Maxwell." The gun was still pointing at his head. He could see that she was blazing with fury.

Duo reached up to wipe the blood from his lip with the back of his hand. "This is uncalled for, Trynity. You didn't have to go through all this trouble to show me how pissed you were about that dance."

"You ass!" She tried to kick him again, but Duo grabbed her ankle and tripped her. The gun fired, and he felt the bullet graze his ribs. The pain was intense, but Duo had to think fast. He threw a handful of sand into her face, then released her leg and charged away. Ducking behind a tree, he was barely flattened behind it when a bullet tore a huge chunk away.

So Miss Trynity Stryfe wasn't in the joking mood. She was just damn lucky his gun was behind her. That bitch! She had been lying from the start, pretending to be something she was not! All the time he had been feeling sorry for her and defending her, Trynity had been attacking the Cinq Kingdom. Everything she had told him in confidence had been a lie to cover her mission. Why hadn't he seen through her? Why hadn't any of them seen the signs? Sure, Wufei suspected her father, but Trynity? She couldn't tie her damn shoes! He glanced out now and saw that she had kicked off her shoes. Smart girl! He might step on the strings and she would be at his feet again. He'd know what to do with her then, and it wouldn't be sweet little kisses under the stars.

Where was she?

The gun against the back of his head was his answer. "Mr. Maxwell," she said quietly. "You disappoint me. I expected more from the pilot of gundam 02."

Duo chuckled. "We haven't even begun, Miss Stryfe. I know you haven't been formally introduced, but my gundam's name is Deathscythe Hell, and I am the god of death."

She seized his braid in her fist and knocked his face into the tree. Although he was reeling with pain and more than a little stunned, he jerked back his elbow and caught her in the belly, Trynity doubled over, coughing, but when he tried to get her gun, he fell prey to defensive move number one.

He fell to the ground, pain blinding him, reaching the ends of every nerve in his body. "Hell, Trynity!" he gasped. "That was not nice!" All he could see was red and white. "That puts a damper on any fun we could have had."

She kicked him again, but this time the effect was minimal. Even in his pain-induced haze he saw her hop on the foot she hadn't used, and he almost found it funny that she had hurt herself.

"Get up!"

"I can't!" he snapped. The pain to the private parts of him hadn't subsided. She didn't care. Grabbing his hair by the scalp, she began to drag him from his hiding place. "Hey, that hurts!"

"Shut up!" When they reached the sand, she released him at the foot of his gundam, then picked up his gun and turned to fling it into the jungle.

"I have had that gun for a long time," he muttered hoarsely. When would the pain end? "I will expect you to replace it."

Trynity scowled at him. Her gun was still train on him. Duo took the opportunity to look her over. Glasses gone, her hair tied efficiently back, she little resembled the thistle-girl now. She was dressed in some tight, short black dress over which she wore a red jacket decorated with insignias from which hung her ID: Lieutenant Trynity Stryfe. Pilot. How she must have laughed about her stay at Seaside! Did she know about the gundams? No, she couldn't have! Now that was amusing.

"What are you laughing about?" she demanded. She swiped a curl from her eyes.

"Hey, I was just thinking how we fooled you, Lieutenant Stryfe. All that time you were hunting our gundams, they were right under your nose."

Her green eyes glittered and narrowed at him. "Where?"

"Lower level," he said with a smirk, enjoying her anger. "Right below the lab, and the hanger opens onto the beach. Sally Po isn't our guardian. She is our commanding officer. Seaside Lab isn't an orphanage. It's a gundam base."

Something he said infuriated her, because she struck at him with the gun, and everything went black. The last thing he saw, was Trynity Stryfe shaking with anger and some other emotion he could not put a name to.

When he came to, the beach was dark but for the moonlight. His head was pounding, his face throbbing and their was searing pain radiating out from his ribs, not to mention other parts of his body that still suffered from her vicious blow. He reached up to his wound, but his arms wouldn't budge. His hands were tied behind him, and his ankles were tied together as well. He was trussed like pig ready to be stuck on a spit. So what was Trynity Stryfe going to do with him? Where was she?

He twisted around the best he could to find her.

"Don't move, you will make your wound bleed again."

The voice came from the shoreline several feet away. Trynity was sitting with her back to him, her arms wrapped around her knees as she pushed her toes into the wet sand, her face pointed to the moon. The water lapped up to her feet. Her jacket was discarded, and Duo noticed how delicate her bare arms looked despite the strength she demonstrated when they had struggled for her gun. He thought of the contest on the archery range between her and Wufei. They should have realized then who she was, but they wouldn't look past the fact that she was a girl. Duo couldn't have seen past her façade of a lost, lonely girl. Even now she seemed to be unhappy even thought she had triumphed over them all.

"Hey, I am thirsty!" he called out to her.

She reluctantly stood, and brushing sand off her, walked toward the gundams. After picking up a canteen, she came to him. She had never looked this good in her school clothes, thought Duo as his gaze traveled the length of her. Damn, she was a sight! That night of the dance he had gotten a hint of what she had been hiding, especially when he held her in his arms and they floated together with the music. Now he couldn't help but look to see what the shadows revealed where she had unzipped her dress down as a concession to the heat. The moonlight gave him a pleasant view that made parts of him forget defensive move number one. As she leaned over him and raised his head to put the canteen to his lips, he almost choked on the water when he noticed the chain around her neck, the golden scythe dangling above her heart.

Trynity took the canteen from him.

He tried to smile, but his face hurt too much and he realized he had a split lip. "So what is the plan, Miss Stryfe."

She raised a brow. "Those that gaze upon…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I heard you a couple of months ago. I have one of those phrases too. All of us from Operation Meteor do. Too bad you didn't join that party as planned. Things might have worked out differently."

"I'm not one of you!" She started to get up.

"Don't go!" Duo struggled ignobly to sit, then was surprised when she helped him. Even more surprised that she lifted his shirt to check a bandage she must have applied to it while he was unconscious. "That was very humane of you, Miss Stryfe."

"My mission is to capture the gundams and their pilots, not to kill them or let them bleed to death."

Duo smiled, but his attempt at charm was wasted when she didn't look at his face. "Then I guess I am safe for now. Hey, you were shooting at me! You could have killed me!"

"If I had wanted to kill you, you would be dead."

"Good point, Miss Stryfe." He chuckled. "So you were just having a little fun with me?"

"Were you having fun?"

He snorted. "Not really, but I guess you were."

Trynity's brows drew together. "That sounds like something you would do. Were you planning to shoot me with that gun you were hiding?"

"Right between the eyes," he admitted unabashedly.

Trynity didn't smile. "Why did you stop fighting in space?"

"Are you a little pissed that you couldn't beat me there?"

"Yes," she affirmed.

Duo almost laughed, but she was dead serious. "You're so much like Heero that it's scary. Sorry I spoiled your fun."

"It wasn't fun. My mission was to defeat gundam 02. I spent hours and hours training with Lars, hours wasted because you are a coward."

Duo glanced at the dark shapes of the gundams, the Deathscythe's arms still raised with the handle of the scythe, the Shadowhawk still holding it. "Looks like a draw."

"Not quite. The Shadowhawk has been outfitted with solar panels and by tomorrow afternoon will have collected enough energy to be recharged."

"That explains how you were able to operate it on Earth without the benefit of a home base." Duo thought that Ivan Stryfe must be very clever. He had likely anticipated that the gundam would have to go long periods without a place to recharge. "So where di you hide the damn thing?"

"On the rocks down from the beach," she told him. She snatched up her jacket, and after putting it on, sat back and wrapped her arms around her drawn up knees. Darn, thought Duo. He lost the view of the best thing he'd seen in a long time. She must have noticed his eyes going to that mysterious place where the scythe was hanging. Girls seemed to have that kind of radar. And there was no doubt in his mind that she was a girl.

"And when you were on the beach…"

"I was coming back from working on it. I took some damage from gundam 03 which had to be repaired, and I made adjustments on the cloak and the system that controls the pulses in the arrows."

Duo felt like a fool. He thought he had been comforting her when all along her hands were dirty from tinkering onher gundam. Well, to be fair, he had been tinkering with his own, too. "Were you working on Nelson's orders all along?"

"Yes."

"He ordered you to kill Noin?"

Trynity didn't respond immediately. So she did have a conscience! "My first order was to destroy the Epyon and Wing zero, both having been classified as a priority threat to the Coalition."

Duo would never forget that night. "Is that why you didn't destroy Deathscythe?"

"I had no orders concerning your gundam." Now she smiled, but it was a smile that made him feel an inche tall. "It woul dhave been so easy."

"We weren't planning to fight. Noin didn't even power up her weapon."

"Why would anybody get into a gundam if they aren't planning to destroy?" Trynity looked over her shoulder at the Shadowhawk. "It isn't good for anything else."

Duo had an argument for that, but he knew she wouldn't listen. She wouldn't understand that they could help maintain peace. "And when Nelson discovered that Noin wasn't dead, he sent you out again."

"My original mission, apparently, was to kill Lucrezia Noin. After that, he wanted information on the gundams. Now he simply wants them. You pilots are going to be given the opportunity to fight for him or die by execution."

Duo winced. "We won't fight for him. He's a traitor."

"Prince Miliardo Peacecraft isn't a traitor," she commented sarcastically. "Not to the ideals of the cinq Kingdom, and certainly not to the World and Space Alliance, not to his people who believe he will bring them peace when all along he is hiding the ultimate fighting machines."

Duo made a sound of disgust. "You believe all that you have been told? You are one of them?"

"I don't consider myself on anybody's side. I have no choice in what I do. What do you believe in, Duo Maxwell?"

"I believe in me." He used to believe something about Trynity Stryfe, but she wasn't the girl he had come to know. His heart ached from the loss of that prickly thistle. "The side I choose to fight on is the right side."

"There is no right or wrong. There is only strong and weak."

"You've been listening to Chang Wufei."

She was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Which gundam is his?"

"The Altron. Gundam 03. He calls it Nataku."

That information did not please her, no doubt because the Altron had damaged her precious Shadowhawk. "I defeated him in the end."

"You usually do."

To his surprise, Trynity laughed softly. "He is quite the stubborn fool."

"You are too." She looked at him with a raised brow. Duo decided to chance returning to a subject that was unpleasant to her. "Did you really think I would lose to Chang Wufei?"

Her hand was quivering when she raised it to touch the necklace. Duo felt his own heart do a flip as he realized just how hurt she had been by the events of the Stardust Ball. That she still wore his gift proved to him that she had feelings for him.

But she jerked on the chain, breaking it and threw it in his face. She was deeply hurt; he could see her eyes glistening. His throat tightened in response, but he said, "I didn't lose, Trynity," he said gently, his voice cracking. "I let him think he had won, but I was the winner."

Trynity jumped to her feet and stalked away. He watched her sit by the water again, but instead of looking up at the moon as she had before, she buried her face in her arms. Her shoulders shook, and although she tried to muffle them, her sobs carried on the breeze. Trynity's tears affected him so much that he had to bit back his own. He worked at the bindings at his writs, and although she had done a darn good job, there wasn't anything made that could hold him. Within seconds he was free, but he had to grit his teeth when he flexed his sore muscles. The pain from his ribs was sharp as he leaned forward to undo the binding at his ankles.

Trynity was still crying. It would be so easy to take the gun she had left behind and make his escape. He could steal the Shadowhawk and return to Seaside. There they would dissect Ivan Stryfe's work and use it against the Coalition.

But Duo couldn't do it. Instead of grabbing the gun, he searched for the necklace she had thrown at him, then went to Trynity. Dropping to his knees behind her, he put his arms around her and rested his head on her trembling back. "Don't cry, Trynity." She tried to move, but he tightened his grip. It occurred to Duo that she didn't want to hear that he cared. Perhaps some of what she had told him about her father was true. Trynity was the thistle, protecting herself with thorns. But Duo rather liked the fuzzy purple flowers they produced.

Finally she relaxed, then turned around to face him. When she raised her hands, Duo was half-afraid she was going inflict more pain, and he really was in no position to defend himself. But she took his face in her hands and lowered her head. The kiss began as sweet and innocent as the ones in the garden at the dance, but soon developed into something deeper. Duo didn't want to wonder where she had learned to kiss like that.

She broke off the kiss and looked down into his eyes. "Let's not be enemies, Duo Maxwell."

"I could never by your enemy, Trynity Stryfe." He pulled her into his arms again, and they fell into the sand together. Whoever had taught her to kiss, hadn't taught her anything else and Duo was glad. She would never forget this night. Neither would he.

As the sun started to rise the following morning, she was snuggled against him, her head on his shoulder and Duo started to ask himself serious questions that needed answers now. What had he done? Had he given up to her? Was he on her side or was she on his? That particular detail hadn't come up during the night, but now as daylight approached, he realized a decision had to be made. Given that Ivan Stryfe was likely connected to the Coalition, Duo had no choice but to accept that she was his enemy.

Gently, he moved her head from his shoulder. He could still get the Shadowhawk and escape, then return to find her. As he pulled on his clothing, she remained sleeping. Damn, his Trynity was beautiful in the first rays of the sun! He wished he could wake up like this every day, except maybe the sand. After a moment of watching her sleep, he quietly crossed the beach. He looked around for the gun, but it was missing. He must not have remembered where she had put it, but then again, she had been somewhat distracting. Too distracting, he thought with a grin as he approached the Shadowhawk. He stared up at the beast for a moment, wondering how Trynity Stryfe piloted it. She was pretty damn ruthless.

When he reached for the cable to take him up to the cockpit, he heard and gunshot and a bullet whizzed past his ear.

He turned to see that Trynity had hastily pulled on her dress and was aiming the gun at his heart. "Don't move."

"You aren't going to shoot me, are you?"

The stony features woman aiming at him wasn't the same one who had spent the night in his arms under the stars. "I should let you try to take my gundam, just to allow you to experience the unique safety feature that prohibits theft. The last pilot who tried to fly it lingered in an infirmary for three days before mercifully expiring."

Duo looked up at the gundam before turning back to her. He scratched his head. "I suppose I owe you my life."

"Don't speak too soon." A warning began to sound from inside the Shadowhawk while Deathscythe's own warning sounding like a moaning kitten. She did not look up, but Duo did and watched as a bright light appeared, and as it came closer to the surface, took the shape of a transport.

He looked at her. "Did you call for them?"

"While you were sleeping," she confessed as the transport ship landed on the beach where they had lain together.

Duo shouldn't have been hurt that she had turned him in, since he had planned to betray her. But he was hurt. His pride suffered from the fact that after what had happened between them didn't seem to mean as much to her as it did to him. They had both lost their innocence on the beach.

Trynity looked briefly away from him.

But when the huge transport door opened, and as men spilled out with cables, Trynity turned back to keep the gun on Duo. He watched as they hooked up the Deathscythe to give it enough power to move it onto the transport. He didn't see the tall man approach until he was beside Trynity and Duo wasn't surprised to recognize Lars Nelson. When he slid a familiar arm around Trynity's waist, Duo knew where she had learned to kiss so well. Too bad, Nelson, thought Duo as the other man leaned down to kiss her, she completed her training with him.

"I worried about you," he heard Nelson say softly in her ear.

"Why?" She handed her gun to Nelson who slipped it into his belt. "I had everything under control."

Not everything, thought Duo with grim satisfaction as he thought of her responses to him. He managed to grin at the couple before him. "Is this the part where I surrender?"

Nelson took his eyes off Trynity and fixed them on Duo. "Duo Maxwell! Well, well, well, so you did learn to pilot a gundam."

Trynity folded her arms over her chest. "He is the god of death." Her expression told him she lacked respect for his title.

"I should have expected it." Nelson was smiling. "Now I know why you were looking for Trynity. You must have realized that she was the pilot of the Shadowhawk."

Duo shrugged and looked at Trynity. "What other reason would there be?"

She turned and walked away. Duo watched her pick up her shoes, her jacket, then she began to dig around in the sand where she had left him tied. He did not dare to hope she was looking for her necklace. But as she continued, now kneeling, sifting the sand with her hands, he knew that she was. She wouldn't find it. It was safe in his pocket.

Nelson grabbed his arm. "Let's go. I'm sure your companions are worried about you." He shoved Duo to two other guards who grabbed his arms and hauled him away to the transport ship.

The last he saw of Trynity, she was still searching in the sand.

Lars Nelson bent to put his hands around her waist to pull her into his arms. She didn't protest his kiss, even seemed to enjoy it.

Duo sighed. Another beach with spoiled memories.


	22. The God of Death joins the Coalition

****

Coalition Base

After taking off her spacesuit, Trynity checked the systems of the Shadowhawk although she knew the Coalition technicians and her father would do it again. There was no damage. She wished she could say the same for herself after this mission. Trynity ran her fingers through her tangled hair, and then flipped on the monitor to watch as guards herded Duo through the hangar. He stopped once to shout at the men unloading the Deathscythe. Whatever he said earned him a slap over the back of the head and she cringed. Knowing Duo, his mouth would get him into even more trouble before he was finally delivered to his cell.

When he was finally gone, Trynity left the Shadowhawk. Lars was waiting for her. By his upturned, expectant face, she knew he expected her to kiss him again. She didn't feel like it, but she did it anyway. Trynity didn't feel anything from his kiss, even when he pulled her close. Whatever had been there before was gone after her experience with Duo. She felt regret because Duo had proved once again that he couldn't be trusted. Lars was there for her.

"Is that the Deathscythe?" Her father's voice made Lars suddenly release her, and when Lars wasn't looking, she touched her lips with her fingers and wondered yet again why Duo Maxwell's kiss felt like magic. 

Dr. Stryfe strode past her towards the gundam, rubbing his hands in anticipation of seeing the work of his former colleagues. Lars put his hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed. He seemed to understand how she felt as her father ignored her. She wished that Lars could be more to her, but fate seemed to tie her to Duo Maxwell.

Lars walked her to her quarters where he kissed her again and tried to follow her in, but Trynity managed ward him off with complaints about her uncomfortable night on the beach, that she needed rest, to shower. He is persistent, she thought with a smile when he finally left after trying to counter all her reasons for sending him off. After showering, she took a nap and didn't awaken until she heard her telecom buzzing insistently. Colonel Nelson's aide informed her there would be a meeting in his office in an hour, so Trynity dressed and made her way to the laboratory.

Her father was seated at his computer, deep in thought, but he seemed to sense she was coming because he quickly activated his screensaver. Trynity was annoyed to watch colorful liquids in test-tubes fizzle, then cover the screen in an explosion. It would be so easy to make his work appear! Dr. Stryfe was looking at her with a raised brow. Was that a challenge?

"I see you are in one piece, pumpkin," he remarked with a smile.

Trynity did not let him see he had hurt her. "The net you devised worked admirably." It was safer to talk about his work.

"Yes, I was quite pleased with the results." He typed on the keyboard and Trynity saw a replay of the Shadowhawk spinning the staff producing a blaze of color. "Is that you, pumpkin? I didn't take you for someone who would put on such a show in a battle."

She smiled. "It worked. Where did you get this?"

"Downloaded from the Deathscythe's memory." He was quiet for a moment, then remarked, "That young pilot must have been quite distracted." He typed in another command and the scene changed. She saw the back of Duo as he left his gundam, slyly tucking his gun in his waistband. 

"I don't want to watch anymore." She turned away. Her heart jumped when she heard the gunshot.

Her father chuckled. "I am surprised you missed."

Trynity frowned. Then a thought occurred to her. She quickly spun to look at him, and she could not help that her cheeks were burning. "How…how much recorded?"

Dr. Stryfe was grinning. "You would be amazed, pumpkin. Seems the cameras are programmed to follow the pilot."

She was so embarrassed now that her knees began to wobble, but the transmission became fuzzy, then blanked shortly after she had kicked Duo. There was a roar in her ears as she felt intense relief. 

Then she heard her father chuckling. "Power loss."

Now she was angry, but not surprisingly, he didn't seem to care. He was running data on the screen about the Deathscythe. "I was unable to penetrate the cloak," she commented.

"I noticed. If the pilot had been a little faster, he would have given you a debilitating hit with the beam scissors."

"I wasn't expecting it to be so fast," she explained.

He raised his brows. "Expect the unexpected, pumpkin."

Trynity certainly hadn't expected to see Duo when she stepped out of the Shadowhawk. Her first shot had been thrown off by the surprise. She had planned to injure the pilot, then immediately call for transport. Seeing that her opponent was Duo Maxwell had caused her to act irrationally. She just couldn't put a bullet in him. And his ridiculous remarks about the dance had infuriated her. Why couldn't he have kept his mouth shut? When did he ever? She should have shot him right between the eyes when she had a chance. He was a smooth-talking liar, and she fell for his lines! How gullible could a girl have to be? Trynity Stryfe gullible! A new low in female stupidity.

"I am anxious to meet the idiot," remarked her father.

"No!" Trynity was horrified.

Dr. Stryfe smiled and pinched her cheek. "Don't deny me the one chance to be a father."

"You've never been concerned about that role before," she snapped. To her shame, his face paled and she saw his eyes misting. "I'm sorry!" she cried as she reached out to him.

He pushed her hands away. "You are right, Trynity." He looked down as if seeing her was too painful. After a moment, he commented, "Your shoes are untied."

Trynity swallowed the lump in her throat as he stared at her shoes. He would never remember! But she would never forget bouncing up to her father in his lab with her new shoes after she had so carefully put in the laces after taking them from the box. He had been deep in discussion with the mechanics fitting the Shadowhawk's arm.

__

"Father, see my shoes! Show me how to tie them!" She was only four and overwhelmed by the strings.

He ignored her for several minutes before she tugged on his coat. When he looked he didn't really see her. She held up the shoes. "Show me how to tie them."

"Not now, pumpkin. Go and play. I will show you later."

_Trynity waited for hours for him, sitting on a crate, wearing her untied shoes, swinging her feet as she watched him work. He was busy, but she was sure he wouldn't forget. Finally when it grew very late, she slid off the box and shuffled her feet to keep the shoes on as she approached him. He was now digging in a mass of wiring on the uncovered arm that would later hold the bow. His technicians had already left to go to bed, so he was working alone._

"Father?" she called to him. "Did you forget my shoes?"

He bumped his head as he emerged from the arm. "Trynity! What are you talking about? Can't you see I have something important to get done? Get yourself off to bed. Now!"

She never asked him again. And Trynity didn't bother trying to teach herself, nor did she accept the help of the technicians that took pity on her. Trinity hadn't wanted their pity. She hated pity, and that is why she became so angry at Duo. If he hadn't asked her to the dance, no one would have and he knew it. His lines were pretty and effective when he asked, but she knew he would rather have been with Hilde. He had gone straight to her at the dance when Trowa sacrificed himself to distract her. But Trynity had seen them dancing together until the foolish girl threw herself at Quatre and Dorothy. The others danced with her out of pity. She wished she had stayed in her room alone that night rather than realize how they put up with her. Just like Ivan Stryfe. And she had wanted their approval too.

"You aren't very pretty when you frown like that."

She turned to see Lars watching her with a faint smile. Her father glanced briefly at Lars, then turned away to his computer screen, dismissing Trynity completely. 

She sighed. "Should I be smiling?" She put her hand on her father's shoulder before she walked over to Lars. She couldn't help loving the old fool.

"Of course you should. Together we defeated Prince Miliardo's ace gundam pilots." He put his arm around her waist as he led her away. She noticed her father smile and wriggle his eyebrows. Trynity wanted to throw a shoe at him.

She turned her attention back to Lars. "We got just a little help from your brother and his army of mobile dolls."

They left the lab and headed toward Colonel Nelson's office. "Did you have to mention him? Or that the mobile dolls played a role?"

"Why not? I heard you are no stranger to treachery." She was thinking of his OZ file. 

Lars stopped and turned to face her. "Are you talking about my abrupt career in the Specials? Let me set the record straight with at least you, Trynity. I did not betray my squadron. My brother pushed for the promotion against my wishes, and when I did not receive it, as I knew I would not, he sent the enemy a detailed report of our attack."

"You were not killed," she pointed out skeptically.

"A condition he insisted on with them. I have tried to get away from him, but I keep coming back. He is all I have." They came to a stop before the Colonel's door where he moved up against her. Trynity didn't move as he took her face between his hands. "I don't feel that way anymore, Isty Bitsy."

The door sliding open saved her from his kiss. She quickly scrambled from his embrace to walk in, straightening her jacket and taking a deep breath. Lars' revelation was quite disturbing. It was easier to think of him as a double-crossing scoundrel. Now she didn't know how to feel about him. What did she owe Duo Maxwell after last night? She did know that what she was feeling towards Lars did not set well with her. Not after last night.

Colonel Nelson was standing before his windows, his back to the door, surveying the returning mobile troops. Trynity forced herself not to sneer at him when he turned to look at them. "Ah, my victorious pilots. I congratulate you on your impressive performance against the Cinq Kingdom gundams. I guess I had no reason to doubt either of you." He waited a moment for their response. 

Trynity almost laughed over his ridiculous attitude. Did he think he was a conqueror? Instead she forced herself to serious thought. "What do you plan to do now?"

"Now? Why, my dear Lieutenant Stryfe, I intend to take those gundams and attack the Cinq Kingdom. Zechs Merquise still has the Epyon and the Valkyrie and will doubtless gather more forces. What we need, is the cooperation of the gundam pilots or we will have to waste time training others." 

He looked at Lars. "You handled your mobile suit adequately. Perhaps you should be the first to choose a gundam from the lot."

"Generous of you, brother," said Lars sarcastically. Trynity glanced at him. He was obviously angry about his brother's lack of enthusiasm for his skills. He should be. Trynity thought he had performed as well as any gundam pilot.

Colonel Nelson began to pace, looking back to his fleet in space. "I should not be surprised that his wards are, in fact, his pilots." He turned to look at Trynity, and he chuckled. "Do you find it amusing, Lieutenant?"

She did not. Her expression must have told him so because he laughed aloud.

"All along my pilot was sitting down to break bread with them."

"Is there a point to this?" asked Lars sharply. He reached over to touch her hand. How did he know her feelings so well? At this moment she felt like a traitor even though she had determined they never accepted her. 

Colonel Nelson slightly raised his brows. "What is the matter, brother? Are you afraid they did more than break bread?"

Although Trynity was angered by his implication, she put her hand on Lars' arm to stop him from going to his brother. She suspected Colonel Nelson considered Lars expendable now that he had her and the gundam pilots. In his eyes Lars would always be a failure, just as in her father's eyes, she would always be a ghost.

The elder brother laughed. "You owe your life to that woman." They both saw him slip a small gun back in his pocket. Lars tensed. Trynity realized, as he must, that his brother was not sane. "Now, where was I before that foolish demonstration of your cowardice? Ah, yes. I believe it would be to our advantage if Lieutenant Stryfe were to give the pilots their choice. She knows them personally and they might listen to her."

He looked at Trynity. "Do you have a problem with that, Lieutenant?"

I have a problem with you, she told him with her eyes. "I doubt my presence will be beneficial, in fact, I am quite sure it will be detrimental."

Nelson stroked his mustache as he regarded her. "Regardless, I want you to speak to them," He looked at Lars. "You may accompany her if you feel it necessary. I think she can handle herself quite well on her own, just as she did with the Deathscythe." He crossed the room to them and took her hand from Lars' arm to raise to his lips. "Well done, Trynity Stryfe."

She jerked her hand away. "I was following orders."

He smiled. "You do that so well. I have already given you new orders. Report to me tomorrow." Turning on his heel, he walked back to his window.

Lars followed her from the room, and he did not speak until they were in another corridor where there were few soldiers to overhear them. "We have to kill him."

Trynity smiled at the seriousness of his tone. "For a moment I didn't think you were joking."

"I am not."

She frowned. "I couldn't do that."

"Not without his orders."

Trynity felt helpless. She did not know what provision he had made concerning her father, so she dared not attempt to betray him. Failure would likely result in Ivan Stryfe's death. With the gundams in his control, he may not have a need for her father any longer.

Lars sighed. "I am sorry I suggested it, Trynity." 

Trynity felt like she was caught in a nightmare. She wished she would wake up.

And find her father waiting to tie her shoes.

**********

"Hey, watch where you're putting your hands!"

The door slid open before him, and his two not so friendly guards took Duo by the arms. After checking him for any instrument that might help him escape, they threw him through the opening so roughly that he stumbled across the room and smashed against the wall where he sagged to the floor.

After the door shut, he heard, "Is anybody surprised?"

Duo raised his head to see Wufei sitting cross-legged, his arms folded as he looked down his nose at him. "I don't see you on the other side of the door looking in," he retorted.

"I didn't run away."

"I was regrouping," Duo defended himself.

He heard a snort and turned to see Heero resting his back against the wall on the other side of the room. "Failed mission."

"What time is it?" asked Quatre who was pacing anxiously. "Does anyone have a watch?"

Trowa glanced at his watch, then tapped it several times before raising in to his ear. "It's dead. I think it was fried along with Heavyarms."

"I promised Dorothy that I would meet her at the café near the palace for tea!" Quatre started wringing his hands. "She'll never forgive me."

"We have bigger problems than Dorothy Catalonia," stated Heero.

"You don't know Dorothy like I do!" Quatre almost shrieked.

"Do some yoga or something," suggested Trowa.

"Oh yes! Good idea!" Quatre positioned himself near Wufei who looked as if he wanted to move. If Duo didn't think laughing would hurt his tortured body, he would have done it.

"What do you think they are planning to do to us?" asked Trowa.

"Maybe they will demand that the Cinq Kingdom pay a ransom," suggested Quatre. "I could pay it!" He jumped up and ran to the door. He pounded on it frantically. "Guard! Guard!"

"Forget it!" said Duo through gritted teeth. "They don't want a ransom."

His comrades looked at him. Duo wished he had kept his mouth shut.

Wufei raised a brow. "What happened to you? The rest of us don't have a scratch."

"I broke a nail!" Quatre was examining his fingernails. "Dot isn't going to like that. She was going to…" He suddenly stopped speaking when he saw his friends' horrified expressions. His cheeks turned pink.

Duo was glad for the brief distraction, but soon enough they turned back to him. "I got shot!" he blurted.

"Where? In the ass when you turned tail and ran?" asked Wufei sarcastically.

Duo might have tried to hit him, but he didn't think he could catch him by crawling.

"I told you that I was headed back to the surface. I thought that at least one of us should make it back to Zechs Merquise. So when I saw that my gundam was starting to run low of power - you try fighting the Shadowhawk! - I tried to shake the damn thing. I didn't think it would follow."

Quatre knelt beside him, then lifted his shirt to examine the wound. "It doesn't look serious. Someone put a pretty good bandage on it, with some antibiotic too."

Heero walked over to him and sat. Trowa joined them, but Wufei remained several feet away staring at him with scorn. Duo almost laughed when he thought of the information he had that would certainly put a bunch in his shorts, that he had been defeated not only by a woman, but by his arch nemesis. But Duo wouldn't miss out on him finding out on his own for the world.

"So the Shadowhawk followed? The pilot did that to you?" asked Heero.

"Why didn't you just shoot him?" asked Trowa.

"I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say I lost my gun." That was true, at least. They didn't need to know yet that he would never be able to shoot Trynity Stryfe, even though she didn't seem to have any trouble using him for target practice.

"Too bad," commented Heero. "If you had shot that pilot, you would have removed at least one very big obstacle to our escape."

"I need rest," said Duo as he fell back on the floor and regretted it when he bumped his head hard. What was another injury when he had so many already? Not the least was the one in his chest. He felt as if something had cut out his heart. Although he knew the Shadowhawk had escorted the transport ship through the still fighting mobile suits in space, he had not seen Trynity. Her gundam had already powered down by the time he was taken from the transport under guard, but she hadn't descended. Nelson almost knocked him over in his haste to get to the Shadowhawk to greet her, but she didn't get out immediately. At least she wasn't all that eager to jump into his arms. 

Where was she now? Getting some well deserved rest? With Lars Nelson? Putting to use what she had learned from him on the beach? Duo couldn't help the wave of intense jealousy that ripped through him when he saw Nelson touching her in the hangar. What his mind conjured was far worse!

"Are you growling?" asked Quatre as he moved away warily.

Duo chuckled and rolled on his good side. "I won't bite." He closed his eyes. "I don't think I have any teeth left."

He couldn't have slept more than a few minutes before he felt himself being prodded. Rolling, he saw the same guards who had delivered him, now holding guns pointed directly at him.

"Get up!"

Duo noticed that Quatre, Heero, Trowa and Wufei had been herded toward the wall, men with guns preventing any movement towards escape. When Duo was too slow in complying with their demand, he was grabbed by the arm and flung with his friend.

"You know, you guys really need some lessons in manners!"

"Are you planning to give them?"

They all looked at the door where the voice had come from. Trynity stood with her arms folded. She had cleaned herself and looked way too damn good. Behind her lurked Lars Nelson. Duo didn't think. He saw the smug look on Nelson's face and dived forward intending to pound him, but he was struck from behind by one of the guards who then aimed the gun at his head.

"That's enough!" snapped Trynity as she stepped further into the cell. Lars started to follow, but she put up her hand to stop him. "I don't need your assistance."

"Trynity…" he started to say, but she cut him off.

"You and the guards can wait in the hall."

Although they were reluctant to leave, she was their superior officer, so they stepped out. Nelson took more persuading: the smile. Duo could see that Nelson wasn't too happy, especially when she pressed the button to close the door, but he really had no choice when she gave him that look. Duo wasn't too happy either.

"Well," commented Trowa, the first to speak, "We shouldn't be surprised."

Wufei took a step toward her, his fists clenched. "You are a traitor!"

She raised a brow. "That would depend on your point of view."

Quatre sighed with relief. "You are here to get us out, aren't you! We are going to plan. That is why you sent them out."

"No, I sent them out because knowing you fools as I do, you would say something to me that might make one of them shoot you."

Duo knew she was talking about Nelson.

"If you aren't here to help us, then what are you here for?" demanded Heero.

She looked at him. "I have been commanded to speak to you concerning your future with the Coalition forces."

Wufei made a sound of disgust. "There is no future for us with the Coalition."

"You have a choice. You may use your skills as gundam pilots to fight for the Coalition or you will be executed." Her tone was cool and unemotional. This was the Trynity Stryfe who could aim a gun at his head, thought Duo.

"Is there anything in the middle?" asked Quatre hopefully. "Like, maybe I could ransom…"

She cut him off. "I'm afraid that Nelson isn't interested in riches."

"Then you will have to help us escape," stated Heero.

"Do you have a gun?" asked Trowa.

"You can be our hostage until we reach our gundams," added Quatre.

Trynity did not respond.

"I don't think she is going to help us," commented Wufei.

Quatre turned to Duo. "Talk some sense into her! You can make her do anything!"

Duo saw the immediate look of hurt in her eyes even though she tried to hide it. She probably thought that he had bragged about their night on the beach. He would never do such a thing.

When she spoke, he heard only contempt. "I'm afraid you can see the result of his attempting to talk sense into me."

They looked at Duo, then at her, and then Wufei exploded. "You are the pilot of the Shadowhawk!" Before anybody could stop him, he lunged at her. Trynity must have expected it because she met his attack with a fist in his face. Wufei came at her again, and she caught him. Defensive move number one. Duo cringed. He knew exactly how that felt. He ached just thinking about it.

"I should have known!" snarled Heero. "No wonder the Zorbon knight defeated me."

Wufei was rolling on the floor trying not to moan and failing, a testament to the pain he was suffering. Duo was rather amused by the spectacle and he noticed Trynity's satisfied smile, but when she saw him looking at her it faded and she frowned.

Trynity's eyes swept the group. "Then I will take your answer to Colonel Nelson."

She started to go.

Duo dragged himself a step forward. "Wait!" He was aware that with the exception of Wufei, his friends were staring at him incredulously.

Trynity turned slowly back to look at him, her brow raised. "What do you want, Mr. Maxwell?"

He took a breath. "I…I don't really feel like dying just yet." He managed to laugh and scratch his head. "And it doesn't really matter for whom I fight as long as I get good, square meals and Deathscythe is taken care of."

"What are you saying?" she asked skeptically. Trynity didn't want to believe what she was hearing. Duo almost smiled.

"I want out of here. These guys can face a firing squad if they want, but I sure as hell ain't gonna. "

Trynity stared at him, and he returned her gaze without blinking. Duo then smiled at her. Let her interpret that any way she wanted. Trynity turned to open the door, and Lars stepped in immediately.

"Duo Maxwell is joining us," she said.

Duo could see that Nelson was not pleased, but he reached out to shake Duo's hand. Although he would rather cut it off with his scythe, Duo took it.

"What do you think you're doing?" Heero stepped toward him, his red face betraying his anger.

"You heard him," Lars Nelson stepped between Duo and Heero. "If you had any sense, you would do the same."

"I would rather…"

Trowa put his hand on Heero's shoulder to stop him from speaking. Then he looked at Trynity. "Can we have some time to discuss this or to think about what we want to do individually?"

"I am sure that Colonel Nelson would not deny your request. A couple of days should be enough time."

Trowa smiled. "I think that should do it."

Duo did not look at him, but instead turned to Lars and Trynity. "So where do we go now?"

"A more comfortable room where I can have that square meal sent to you," said Trynity. She walked beside him as two guards walked in front and Nelson walked behind. Trynity was explaining to him that of the former colony now used as a base, only the remains of the defense sector were livable. While not exactly full of the amenities of the rest of the colony, it functioned well enough for the Coalition. Duo wasn't expecting a comfortable suite like he had at Seaside, but then this wasn't the Cinq Kingdom. The room she showed him had only a narrow bed, a small table on which was a telecom and a chair. Fortunately it had it's own bathroom, so he knew he wasn't going to be small fry in the Coalition pond.

"Am I an officer?" He looked at Lars who watched him silently. What was he thinking? Duo hoped he realized that Trynity was his.

Finally Nelson spoke. "I will ask my brother what your status is when I speak to him."

"You can inform him now." Trynity smiled at him. Once again, Lars was doomed to do whatever she wanted. "I will meet you later on the training deck."

"Very well." He took her hand and raised it to his lips, then leaned down to kiss her. She didn't seem all that reluctant. Duo didn't think it would be much of a goodwill gesture to grab the oaf's sword and plunge it in his back. "Later, Itsy Bitsy." Then he left after ordering the guards to remain posted outside his room.

"You won't be able to leave," Trynity told Duo as she walked to the door. She turned around to look at him, her face not revealing anything of her feelings. How could she let that traitor kiss her in front of him? Was she that cold? "Are you hungry?"

He was surprised his stomach didn't answer for him. "A little snack wouldn't hurt." Damn, he hadn't eaten for days!

Trynity stepped out, but she turned back. "I will see if there are any Triscuits around."

Even though it hurt, he laughed as the door slid shut. Duo didn't bother to check it. He knew it would be locked and that guards would be waiting outside the door. He was too exhausted to attempt an escape anyway. The bed wasn't comfortable, but was at least a step up from the floor in the holding cell. Soon enough he was sleeping again, and soon enough he was awakened. Duo wondered if sleep deprivation were part of some torture designed to break his will.

But he could smell food, so he sat up and was surprised to see Trynity holding a tray. He hadn't expected to see her. She set the tray on the small table and pulled it near the bed. Then she sat on a chair with a cup of hot chocolate. On his tray, Duo discovered hot soup, steak, potatoes, and pie. He was being treated like a prince!

Duo looked at Trynity. "Are you going to eat?" He would share if he had to. He didn't want to.

"I already did, in the canteen while you were sleeping."

"Where is your shadow?"

Trynity looked into her chocolate. "Captain Nelson is in the hanger inspecting the gundams with his brother." She smiled at the steaming sweet liquid. She couldn't look at him when she spoke about Lars Nelson. "I think he is quite disappointed that he can't have the Deathscythe."

Duo almost choked on a mouthful of steak. "He was planning to fly my gundam?" That was too much! First Trynity! Now Deathscythe! 

"Don't worry. For now it is safe from him. My father is picking apart your gundam for the moment."

Poor Deathscythe!

"He's interested in the radar cloak you used to fool me," she told him. "My father suspects someone stole his work."

Duo chuckled as he cut his steak. "No doubt Dr. J. He designed it. I heard that he worked with your father, so I wouldn't be one bit surprised if that old codger lifted a few figures here and there." He looked at Trynity. "I almost got you, Miss Stryfe! Sam souped up my gundam for this fight. One more second, and slice!" He demonstrated with his steak knife.

She smiled and his heart flipped. A guy could barely think straight when she did that. "You didn't get one more second, Mr. Maxwell. Did you like my little trick?"

"You mean that razzle dazzle with the beam saber that almost got my arm blown off?" Duo smiled back at her. "That was mighty flashy, Miss Stryfe. I wasn't expecting that."

"Expect the unexpected."

Duo concentrated on his meal. If he didn't, he would be rolling Miss Stryfe on his bed and Duo knew his limitations. That activity would probably kill him. As he was finishing his meal, Trynity set aside her empty mug and went into the bathroom. She came back with a wet cloth and towel as well as bandages.

"Lay back," she ordered him.

He raised his brows. "Just what are you planning to do to me, Miss Stryfe?"

She blushed, and then he was surprised to hear her giggle. "Lay back and find out."

Unfortunately, changing his bandage was far from what he had in mind. When she finished, she gently wiped his battered face with the cool, wet washcloth. Her touch was comforting, and he closed his eyes. "I'm so tired."

"Get some sleep. When you wake up, you can leave the room, but unfortunately you will be under guard until Colonel Nelson doesn't suspect some sort of treachery."

He didn't open his eyes, but he felt her leave the edge of the bed where she sat so close to him. "Why don't you stay with me?"

"You wouldn't get much rest if I did," she predicted. "Besides, I am meeting Lars."

"Oh." Duo was too tired to think about what she and Lars did on the training deck. He would deal with it later.

The last vision he had before descending rapidly into sleep was a scythe swinging for Lars Nelson. "Beware the god of death," he mumbled.

Trynity's giggle was the last thing he heard, and then he tasted sweet chocolate on his lips.

His last thought was about her comment. "You wouldn't get much rest if I did."

Duo smiled as he fell asleep.

**********

"You wished to speak to me?" Trynity spoke to Colonel Nelson who sat staring at his telecom.

He looked at her. "Lieutenant, again I congratulate you. Bringing the pilot of the Deathscythe to our side is a feather in your cap. His friends may follow his example." He pressed the button on his telecom. "But then, I suspect he has personal reasons for joining the Coalition."

She glanced at the telecom that he swiveled for her to see.

"Okay, so you got me. I'm looking for Trynity." Nelson was replaying the transmission between Lars and Duo several days ago. She had seen it so often that she had every movement memorized.

Nelson raised his brows. "Your computer log registers that you played this many times, my dear. I would hate to think that personal feelings might get into the way of your performance."

Trynity looked from the screen to him. "I brought him in, didn't I?"

"But did you bring him in for the Coalition or for yourself?"

She glared at him. "What does it matter? I do what you want because you hold my father and for no other reason. Duo Maxwell does what he wants for his reasons. He is on our side now."

Nelson laughed, the sound of it reeking with his evil dementia. "You are quite right! And I am glad that we understand each other, especially now that you…your friend Duo Maxwell is in my power."

Trynity clenched her fists at her side. His meaning was quite clear. "What do you want now?"

He pressed a button on the computer.

__

"Duo! What are you doing? You just fried Dr. J's desk!"

She looked at him, her brows raised. "So?" What interest could Duo's stupidity have for Nelson?

He played it again, then his lip raised in a sneer. "I would recognize that voice anywhere, anytime. That is Lucrezia Noin!"

Noin!? "Impossible! She died in that Aires suit!"

__

"Duo! What are you doing? You just fried Dr. J's desk!"

"It is Noin!" Nelson was scowling at her. "You still have not completed your first mission!"

She took a step back. "It can't be true! I saw that Aries explode!" Trynity closed her eyes, searching her memory and seeing the scene again. She remember that the two Aries suits collided, then the one with Noin had drifted away, no doubt disabled by the impact, before her deadly arrow blew it to pieces. Trynity replayed the scene again, but now she saw a detail in her mind that had not registered at the time when she had been pleased to complete the mission. The hatch to the Aries she had destroyed had been open!

Nelson was suddenly before her, and her grabbed her chin in his hand. "I dislike failure, Trynity Stryfe. I don't think I am mistaken when I say that you abhor it as well." He took the small gun from his pocket and placed it in his hand. "You are going back to finish the job."

Trynity stared at the gun in her hand.

His fingers tightened on her chin, and he forced her to look into his cold, black eyes. "There are many that depend on you now, Lieutenant Stryfe. Your father, Duo Maxwell, the other gundam pilots. Even Lars." He released her and she stumbled back. "There is a shuttle headed to Earth from Colony L3. Another from the Cinq Kingdom Defense post will meet with it and you will be board that shuttle. I expect a clever girl like you can come up with some type of story to fool the witless Miliardo Peacecraft. Wear a low-cut blouse and he won't even bother listening to what you have to say. Stay close to him and his accursed shadow will appear. Noin couldn't have been that far away from him all this time."

"What about the pilots? I gave them two days to make their decision and this mission will take far longer." Trynity had hoped to speak to them again, to convince them that their noble sacrifice would be meaningless. 

"I am in no hurry for their decision. Miliardo Peacecraft hasn't been found yet, so we have time to plan our next move."

Trynity had no other choice. She looked from the gun in her hand to Colonel Nelson. "I will not fail this time."

"You will regret it if you do."


	23. Maybe life in Paradise isn't perfect

****

Seaside Laboratory

The shuttle hadn't even stopped before Noin jumped from her seat and stomped to the door to wait impatiently for it to be opened. The young lieutenant who hurried to open it tried desperately to hide his smile, but Miliardo saw it and almost laughed. He dared not. Noin would likely seize the young man's gun and fire at him. Before hurling herself out, she stopped, turned to look at him, and her eyes told him exactly where she wanted him to go. Then she was gone in a flurry of gauzy, colorful veils. The garment had been given to her by one of the Maganauc's women. Unfortunately Noin didn't appreciate being dressed as if she had stepped out of Arabian nights. Miliardo thought it was quite amusing.

Benton apparently did too, because he was chuckling as he stepped onto the shuttle. "Was that Commander Noin or did you buy some harem slave?"

"That idea has some merit, Benton. Unfortunately, that was Noin." He left his seat. "Do you have any more information about the gundams? Have they been able to contact us?"

"Not yet. But they are clever young men. I am quite sure they will find a way." Benton led him from the shuttle into the hanger below Seaside. Noin was standing with Sally Po from whom she had borrowed a jacket to cover her flimsy excuse for a top. When she saw Miliardo, she quickly turned away.

"Trouble in paradise, your Excellency?" asked Benton.

"You enjoy prying into my private life," observed Miliardo. He crossed to the elevator with his aide following close behind. "Is the conference set up tomorrow with the Dover staff?"

"Will Commander Noin be joining you?"

Miliardo sighed as the elevator opened and they stepped in. "I suppose she will. She is the commander of my forces." Although after a week of living with her he could not imagine a person less suited for the task.

"You realize there will be scandal," pointed out Benton. "Noin is supposed to be dead."

"She couldn't remain dead forever. I knew scandal could not be avoided when she stepped out of the grave. Make sure that her name is not tied with Roxy's." The two couldn't be less alike he had discovered. "Make up something to deliver to the press tonight before she appears in public. I don't care what you say."

"I could make up some story about your rescuing her from a harem," suggested the aide with a smile.

Miliardo looked at him. "Do it, and I am sure Noin will put a bullet in you."

Benton laughed. "I did notice she was not too pleased."

That was a mild way to put it. Miliardo didn't think they spoke more than a dozen words to each other the last two days of their confinement in the desert. When the shuttle landed to take them back, she had sent him out with the task of finding her clothing, and she was not grateful for what he returned with. Then again, he probably could have accepted the jeans and tee shirt the woman had offered at first. Miliardo now laughed aloud when he remembered the expression on her face when he told her there was nothing else available beyond that belly-dancing costume. 

Benton led him to a suite that had been prepared for him. He slyly informed him that Noin was across the hall. Miliardo would be better off if she were across the country. 

"Where is my sister? Is she safe?"

"She is at the palace, and yes she is. Nelson apparently thought it was to his advantage to leave her in control."

As he was changing, Benton briefed him again on the attack in space. Miliardo couldn't blame Sally Po for the debacle. She had no choice but to follow orders and he knew he would find that she had filed an objection. Unfortunately, it was too late to act. The gundams were gone; the pilots were prisoners. He still had the Epyon and the Valkyrie, and as they spoke the Dover base was turning out mobile dolls and Taurus suits. 

Finishing, Benton rubbed his hands together. "Well, your Excellency, was your little vacation worth the trouble it caused?"

Miliardo stared at him for a moment, then said. "Well worth it, Benton. I got to see just exactly what kind of woman Lucrezia Noin is."

"That doesn't sound encouraging," commented his aide.

"Let me just say, I was quite surprised. Not pleasantly."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Benton started toward the door. "I have other calls to make, your Excellency."

Miliardo didn't care to discuss personal issues with anyone, but now he started speaking without knowing why. "You have no notion how slovenly she is."

"I have never given it much thought."

"I shudder to think what a mess that place would have been had she actually brought a suitcase of clothing. As it was, anything she touched was ultimately dropped on the floor or misplaced."

"It must have been difficult."

Miliardo wasn't listening to him as he paced now, running his fingers through his hair. "She made no attempt to pick up after herself, and when I did, she accused me of being a neat freak."

Benton bit his lip, but Miliardo knew he was smiling. 

"Well, I suppose I could have given her a little slack." Benton started to leave, and Miliardo spoke again. "But I don't think I can ever sit down at a table with her again."

Benton turned back from the door.

"For one thing, she doesn't know how to properly hold a spoon. My God, Benton, she held it like a shovel! If that weren't bad enough, she used it like a shovel!" Miliardo shuddered as he imagined her eating soup. "She held her fork in the wrong hand! And she used the wrong fork! What kind of person uses a dessert fork for salad?"

"Shocking!"

Miliardo frowned. Maybe he shouldn't have set the full compliment of forks on the table. But Noin should have known how to use them! He was used to a more genteel life. Where did she grow up? A barn? "Did you know she talks with food in her mouth?"

"I have never had the occasion to notice such a thing."

"She reached across the table without asking to have things passed to her."

"Your Excellency, correct me if I am wrong, but were not the two of you the only ones there?"

"Benton, just bear with me!" he said through gritted teeth. Miliardo was on a roll. He wasn't going to let his usually snoopy aide stop him now. "She absolutely refused to help clean up. I don't think she knows how! How can I live with that?"

"I would think the five dozen servants employed at the palace could help solve that problem."

Miliardo frowned. He hadn't thought of that. "I suppose you are right."

"There are a few more arrangements I need to make for the conference…"

"She did brush her teeth after meals," he commented. "But she walked around with that toothbrush handing out of her mouth. And she didn't care where she spit out the paste. As I was doing the dishes she had the nerve to spit it in the kitchen sink. And she had no qualms about talking with that damn toothbrush in her mouth."

Benton rolled his eyes.

"When I wanted her to talk, she sat stone silent. When I wanted to read or sleep, she suddenly had something to say. She wouldn't shut the hell up when I was reading. She accused me of ignoring her. Ha! She is impossible to ignore! She was in my face constantly, except when I wanted her to be. Then she ignored me! But she didn't see it that way. No! She accused me of pestering her!"

"Your Excellency, this isn't going somewhere intimate is it?"

Miliardo grimaced. "Sorry, Benton. I didn't realize what I was saying."

"Quite all right. Now, if you will excuse me…" His hand was reaching out for the panel to open the door.

"I have never seen such a lazy human being in my life!"

Benton pressed buttons.

"And selfish."

The door was sliding open.

"And slovenly."

Benton stepped out.

Miliardo took a step to the door. "Tell Noin I will see her later. If she needs me, I will be here resting." Was that yearning in his voice? He couldn't possibly miss her already! 

Yet when Benton shut the door after one last grin that told him he had given away his feelings yet again, he turned back to the huge bed and wished Noin were waiting in the middle. That charming smile of hers had a way of making him forget just how annoying she was. 

Oh well, he might get some sleep for once without her limbs jabbing and poking him.

**********

"Come in!" Noin walked out of her bathroom rubbing her wet hair and found Colonel Benton staring at the clothing that was scattered around the room. After removing that ridiculous garment Miliardo had forced her to wear, she had a little trouble deciding what to put on. None of the dresses suited her mood, and her casual clothing didn't seem appropriate. Her uniform was laid out over the bed.

"I am sorry to disturb you, commander, but his Excellency wanted me to tell you ..."

"What? Tell me to pick up after myself?" Noin kicked a bright pink scarf in the air. "Look at that Benton!" She caught it and shook it in her fist. "What kind of outfit is this?"

Benton pursed his lips together to keep from smiling. 

Men! They were all on the same side! 

"Commander, the prince asked me to…"

"Benton, you could have warned me what kind of man he is!" She kicked the clothing out of her way as she paced.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"Oh yes you do! He is arrogant, self-centered and conceited! What made him think I would want to spend a week in the middle of nowhere without a stitch of clothing with him?"

"I can't imagine." Benton raised a brow. "No clothing?"

Noin felt her cheeks burning. What was she doing telling Benton such a thing? "I suppose in other circumstances, it could have been romantic. Leave it to him to do something so out of character at an inconvenient time."

Benton sighed. "There are still arrangements to be made for the Dover meeting."

"I suppose he is in there taking a shower yet. My God, Benton, he showers for forty-five minutes! I made the mistake of taking a shower after him and was treated to freezing water! I suppose it takes him forty-five minutes to wash his hair!"

The young man rolled his eyes.

Noin smiled. "I knew you would understand how aggravating that could be. He seemed to think I was being unreasonable. If that weren't bad enough, he spends the next hour with his grooming. Don't get me started on his shaving! I didn't realize his razor was a delicate instrument of surgery only to be handled by a professional! I made the mistake of using it once on my legs! Once! It will never happen again, I assure you! I thought we were under attack by his bellowing when he found a few dark hairs in it!"

Benton rubbed his cheeks between his fingers. "I hadn't heard anything about that, but the day is young."

"What do you mean by that?" Noin frowned. If she didn't know Miliardo better she would wonder if he had been complaining to Benton. Miliardo would never do that! She shrugged. "Living with him was worse than living with my mother. Constant nagging about cleaning up! What was there to clean? There were enough dishes to last the week. But he insisted on doing them after every meal. I have never washed a dish in my life! I have no intention of beginning now!"

Benton chuckled.

Noin burst into laughter. "You cannot imagine the sight of Miliardo Peacecraft slaving over a kitchen sink! I would have found it funnier if he hadn't been grumbling under his breath. All that after sitting at a table with him. I will never do it again! One week across from him is enough!"

"I am sure it couldn't have been all bad," suggested the aide.

She snatched up her uniform. "Turn around, Benton." When he did, she began to dress. "Where would I start? The forks! Benton, have you ever sat at a table with four forks? I thought he was joking! He actually expected me to use each fork! You should have seen the look on his face when I picked up food with my fingers!"

She saw Benton's shoulders shaking. He was probably laughing, but she didn't care.

"Oh my God, Benton, he chewed each mouthful of food exactly ten times! And if he chewed one more or less than ten, he would choke on his food when he swallowed! After three mouthfuls of food, he would take a drink, then dab at his mouth with a napkin. Then he would start the whole damn process over. I thought I was going to lose my mind watching him!"

"Dreadful!"

She had finished dressing except for her jacket and boots. "Benton, he snorts when he laughs!"

"I don't think I have ever heard him outright laugh."

"Well, he sounds like a pig!"

"I wouldn't recommend making him laugh then."

Noin chuckled. "At least not in public." She sat down to pull on a boot. "Actually, I am surprised he even spoke to me at all, he was so intensely interested in his book! He preferred that stupid book to anything I had to say."

"I doubt that."

She pulled on the other boot. "And when I found an old newspaper to read, he accused me of ignoring him! What's worse is that I began the crossword puzzle and while I was napping, he finished the damn thing!"

"Very annoying."

"You have no idea what I have had to endure!"

"I have some," he commented.

Noin sighed as she finished the last button. For some reason she felt very uncomfortable with all these clothes on. "All right, colonel, you can turn around."

"I have to finish arranging the meeting. And there are press releases to be prepared."

She smiled. "I am back from the dead?"

"I believe he is going to let you live, at least for now."

"It is going to be an ugly scandal."

"His instructions are to leave Roxy Rivera's name out of it."

Noin felt relief. She could never regain the respect of her subordinates if they knew she had been that bimbo Roxy Rivera. "So what are you going to tell the press?"

"Most of the truth."

"I suppose I should let you go. What did you want in the first place?"

Benton smiled as he opened the door. "His Excellency wanted me to tell you he would see you later, that if you need him, he is resting."

"What would I need him for?" Noin followed him into the hall.

Benton looked at her, then motioned to the door across.

She took a deep breath. "I think I will rest too." After returning his salute, she watched him go, then crossed to the door he had indicated. 

Lifting her hand to buzz, she was surprised when the door opened.

Miliardo filled the opening.

"Lucrezia!" He reached out.

She jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Miliardo, I missed you!"

He slipped his arms around her and stepped back into his room. Noin started kissing him as he carried her to the bed. She laughed when he swore about all the buttons on her jacket, and when he finally pushed it off, the telecom buzzed.

Miliardo sat up.

Noin pulled him back down. "Leave it!"

As he kissed her again, the telecom continued to buzz. Reluctantly he pushed himself away from her, and although she reached out for him, he left the bed with several words that he was somewhat surprised she knew, let alone used.

"What is it?" he snapped, running his hand through his hair.

Noin propped on an elbow. She could see Sally Po. 

"I have some rather startling news. Trynity Stryfe landed on a shuttle from Colony L3. She called here quite hysterical, crying something about her father being alive and held captive."

"Interesting." Noin thought his tone was rather callous.

"I sent a car to pick her up. She should be here in about twenty minutes."

"We will be down in a few moments." He closed the transmission and turned to look at Noin.

"So Miss Stryfe has returned! How will you explain the absence of her fellow wards?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I am sure she will accept any story." Crossing his arms, he looked at her. "Have you had any unguarded conversations that might have been overheard?"

Noin frowned. "Why do you ask?"

He didn't answer at first, then he said, "Benton is preparing to resurrect you."

"He told me. Are you afraid someone already knows beside those here who are completely loyal?"

"Is there any way Nelson could have discovered that you are alive?" He turned back to the telecom and began to review outgoing calls from Seaside. 

She came up behind him. "I didn't call anyone."

"What is this?" She saw a call to the Space Defense post.

"I don't know. Do you think there was a spy here?"

He pressed the button and they heard Duo's voice, but saw a handsome young man responding.

"That is Lars Nelson," she told him. They listened for a moment, then Noin heard herself speaking.

__

"Duo, what are you doing? You just fried Dr. J's desk!"

Miliardo turned to look at her.

She looked back at the screen. "I…I didn't know he was making a call!"

"We can assume Nelson knows." He took her hands. "I will protect you myself, Lucrezia."

"Do you expect the Shadowhawk?"

"Definitely."

"We should go down to meet Trynity Stryfe. She might know something."

"I doubt she will tell us anything useful."

Noin went with him and they joined Sally Po in the courtyard. When the limousine arrived, Trynity jumped from the car and threw herself sobbing into Sally's arms. Noin was touched by the girl's fears and knew she would feel no differently if she had just discovered her father was not dead. Noin wondered if Dr. Stryfe were actually in danger or whether he was a participant in the Coalition rebellion. For Trynity's sake she hoped Dr. Stryfe was not a willing partner in their crimes. 

Sally hugged her close, patted her back and finally was able to calm her. Then the red-haired girl threw herself at Miliardo when she was composed enough to see him. "Your Excellency, you have to help my father! He is in danger!" 

Although it was silly to think so, Noin thought the young woman was pushing herself rather close to Miliardo. He even caught her arms to move her back. 

"Come inside, Miss Stryfe, and tell us everything you have learned."

Trynity turned her head to see Noin, and there was shocked surprise. "Commander Noin! I…I thought…I thought you were dead!"

Miliardo chuckled. "Seems a great many people are rising from the grave these days."

Noin glared at him over Trynity's head as they turned to enter the lab. How could he make light of her shock and distress? Sally exchanged a surprised look with Noin as they followed them in. They settled in the salon where they were served tea, and Trinity explained all that had happened. She had tried to go back to the scientific station at L10 but didn't get any further than L3 where she happened to stumble across information about her father. After investigating, she discovered the truth and returned to the Cinq Kingdom as soon as she could.

"I am so sorry I ran away, but…but those boys were cruel to me!"

Sally was sitting beside her and squeezed her hands. "I have spoken to them."

Tears filled her eyes. "Please don't tell them! Don't tell them I am back! I couldn't face them just yet!"

"They aren't here," remarked Miliardo.

"Where are they?" she asked, looking from him to Sally Po.

"They are on a camping trip with their sweethearts," said Miliardo with a half-smile. "I doubt they will be back until school is ready to resume."

"Oh!" Trynity didn't question any further.

Noin raised her brows at Miliardo. That was a sorry excuse for their absence! Sweethearts? Who in their right mind would believe such crap? If Trynity were thinking clearly she would realize it was an outright lie. He was being heartless and she imagined it was because he was certain her father was behind the Shadowhawk. Trynity shouldn't be blamed for Ivan Stryfe's actions.

"What can you do to help my father?" asked Trynity, reaching for Miliardo again. Noin noticed that Trynity Stryfe wasn't dressed as primly as she usually was. Was that sweater cut quite a bit lower and a bit tighter than her usual button shirts or baggy sweatshirts? Where were her glasses?

Miliardo held her hands at arm's distance. "What have you discovered?"

She leaned toward him, and tears rolled down her cheeks. "My father was coming to the Cinq Kingdom to share his work with scientists. His shuttle was attack by a group calling itself the Consortium…"

"Coalition," Noin corrected her. She caught Miliardo smirking.

Trynity looked at her. "You have heard of them?"

Sally cleared her throat. "We have had some trouble with the Coalition."

Trynity looked back at Miliardo. Noin did not like how close she had shoved herself or that Miliardo had a view down her sweater. Her lips pursed tightly as she noted that seventeen year old Miss Stryfe was packing more female wiles than she did. If he dared to look…

"I am afraid they are making my father do things! He doesn't believe in war! He is a pacifist!"

Miliardo patted her hands and moved them into Sally's. "Miss Stryfe needs some rest. We can talk more tomorrow."

After Sally had escorted the girl from the room, Noin looked at Miliardo. "What was that all about?"

He smiled and pulled her onto his lap. "A little acting, my dear."

She slipped an arm around his neck. "I don't follow you, Miliardo."

"Then you are going to have to wait until the curtain raises. Now, let's go to your room. I think we had some unfinished business."

Noin laughed as he lifted her. "Put me down!"

"Not until we get to your room."

She thought of the mess on the floor. "No! Your room!"

Miliardo was chuckling as they entered the hall. "I promise I won't say anything about what I imagine you have already done to your room."

Noin was picturing him picking up and folding her clothing before they got around to doing what he was planning. Before she could protest further, the front door opened to Benton who seemed startled to find them in the entry headed for the elevator. He was pushed aside, and they were facing Vice Minister Une.

"Vice Minister Une is here to see you," Benton announced lamely.

Lady Une stared with shock at the two of them. Noin felt rather silly in his arms, but she quite enjoyed first the surprise, then the jealous anger in the other woman's eyes. "Noin!" She looked at Miliardo. "Prince Miliardo, you have some explaining to do!"

He took Noin's hand in his after he let her slide to standing on the floor. "I am sorry the secrecy was necessary. Benton will be able to explain the circumstances to you. But we have urgent business to take care of, Cinq Kingdom business." He turned and strode to the elevator, dragging Noin with him. 

"Just a minute!" The door slid open and Miliardo pulled Noin in with him. It shut just as Lady Une reached the elevator. "Zechs Merquise!" They heard her shout. "I demand an explanation now!"

Miliardo pulled Noin against him. "Now, where we?"

**********

Although he hadn't planned to fall asleep, Miliardo must have dozed off because the next thing he knew he felt pain on his mouth and his lower lip was throbbing. He reached up to drag Noin's hand from his face and shoved it back at the sleeping woman. His lip was bleeding. He could taste the blood in his mouth. He reached back to turn on the light, then turned to shake her, intending to wake her up before she slugged him again.

"Noin, for God's sake, can't you be still!" His heart seemed to stop and he found it difficult to breathe as he focused on the shadows. There was a gun at the temple of the sleeping woman, and he found himself looking into the startled gaze of Trynity Stryfe.

"You don't really want to do that," he said when he found his voice. He wasn't sure what she was capable of. Nobody knew the real Trynity Stryfe.

She didn't tremble or seem in any way reluctant. "You should have stayed sleeping."

"I think the noise might have awakened me."

"I wasn't expecting you to be here."

They stared at each other for a moment, then he asked, "Are they safe?"

Trynity didn't blink. She knew exactly whom he was talking about. "For the moment."

"How long is that moment going to stretch?"

"Until they agree to fight for the Coalition. Duo already has."

Miliardo raised a brow. "I am sure his reward is different than the others."

"Shut up!" So the girl was sensitive about Duo Maxwell. At least that young man would remain safe.

"What are you going to do now?" He raised a brow. "Are you going to shoot me too?"

"That isn't my mission."

Noin was stirring. "Miliardo, what…" She didn't realize they weren't alone. She saw the blood on his swelling lip. "Did I do that? Let me kiss it and make it all better." 

Trynity reached out to grab Noin's shoulder and shove her back.

Noin turned to see the gun, then gasped and pulled the sheet up to cover herself better. "What are you doing?"

The young woman holding the gun made a sound of disgust. "That should be fairly obvious."

Noin's hand slid across the bed to find Miliardo's and he squeezed it to reassure her.

"The curtain has risen," he told her, then looked at Trynity. "I believe we are at an impasse."

"Quite so," agreed Trynity. Seeing her now, Miliardo could not believe she was ever overlooked as a suspect in the search for the Shadowhawk. She was every bit as cold-blooded as the young men he was attempting to reform. What else could he expect from the pilot of a gundam?

"Why are you doing this?" asked Noin. She was trying not to sound frightened, but Miliardo heard the quiver in her voice.

"I have my orders."

"From Nelson?" Miliardo knew the answer already.

"Who else? He told me Commander Noin was a hindrance to his plans."

"You don't sound like you believe it," commented Miliardo.

Trynity half smiled. "He is more transparent than he thinks. Commander Noin must have offended him. He despises her probably more than he hates you."

"You are working for such a man?" Noin was angry. "If he were a real man he would be here blowing my brains out himself instead of sending an soulless machine!"

Miliardo saw a flicker of something in the girl's eyes. She wasn't as unfeeling as Noin seemed to think. Although she did very well hiding it, Miliardo knew this task was sickening her. "You cannot escape, Miss Stryfe."

"Lieutenant Stryfe," she corrected him.

"Lieutenant in a traitor's army," scoffed Noin.

Miliardo hoped Noin's mouth didn't get her killed before he could talk Trynity out of her mission. "If you are a Lieutenant, then surely you can see how wrong it is to commit this murder."

"What difference does one more death make?"

"How would Duo feel about this?"

"He has killed his share of people in his gundam," she snapped. "He was planning to kill me!"

"In battle," said Miliardo, "not sneaking into someone's bedroom in the night with a gun while they are sleeping." She shifted uncomfortably. She didn't want to be here; she hated what she was being forced to do. "Put down the gun, Trynity. Somehow we will work this out."

"I can't! We can't! My father is back there! Duo is back there! If I don't do this, he will kill them all!" She reached out and seized Noin's arm. "Let's go." She shoved the gun up against her head as she dragged her from the bed.

"Don't move, your Excellency, or I will cover you with her blood here and now. At least I will do you the courtesy of executing her elsewhere."

"I don't have any clothes!" complained Noin. "I hate these sheets!" She dragged it off the bed with her. 

There was no reasoning with Trynity Stryfe. In her position, he would probably do the same. He quickly pulled on his pants and turned so see Trynity dragging Noin toward the window. 

Noin looked back at him, her eyes pleading. He couldn't do anything to help her.

Suddenly Trynity lost her footing, and Miliardo realized she had stumbled on Noin's boots that she had just tossed haphazardly on the floor when she had undressed. The gun slipped, and Noin turned to seize Trynity's wrist. They struggled, and Miliardo lunged forward to help her. Trynity fought like a trapped wild animal, but between the two of them, they pinned her on the floor. Somehow they managed to tie her hands behind her back. 

Miliardo pulled her up by her shoulders and shoved her in a chair by the open window she must have crawled in. She was panting and trembling. 

"They are all going to die!" she gasped. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. This time they were genuine. "He will kill the pilots. He will kill Lars." She sobbed. "He will kill my father and Duo."

Noin came to Miliardo's side wearing his shirt. "Nelson must be crazed."

"Doubtless." He wanted to take her in his arms to reassure himself that she was safe. How many times did the woman need her life to be saved? He turned back to Trynity. "We can help you."

"You can't!" she whispered, shaking her head.

The buzzer for the door sounded. Miliardo and Noin turned towards it. It was just enough time for Trynity to jump up from the chair, throw herself at them to knock them off balance, then dive for the open window. 

Miliardo tripped over the chair she had tilted over in her escape and looked out the window expecting to see her lying unconscious below. But she was gone. The buzzer was still sounding.

Noin stomped to the door and it slid open to reveal Vice-Minister Une.

She started to speak. "I want to know what is going on…"

"Noin!"

His warning was too late. She balled her hand into a fist and socked the other woman so hard she stumbled out, hit the wall and sagged to the floor.

Miliardo sighed. "How am I going to explain that?"

Noin rubbed her knuckles. "Just tell her she got knocked out in the assassin's escape."

If Lady Une did not believe it the following morning when she was told the story of the assassin knocking her out in a daring escape, she did not show it. Miliardo suspected she was attempting to salvage her pride after Noin had so effectively handled her. She had greeted Noin with cool politeness. Noin ignored her over the breakfast table. 

He smiled as she hummed contentedly while buttering an English muffin. Miliardo frowned as he noted that she ignored the butter knife on the plate with the butter, preferring the knife at her place setting provided for cutting her food. She stirred sugar and cream into her coffee with her fork.

Noin looked at him as she raised the cup from the saucer still on the table.

He picked up his saucer, then raised his cup. The woman needed a lesson in eating politely!

She smiled and put the rim of her own to her lips.

Miliardo set down his coffee with a clatter. "Damn it, Lucrezia, don't slurp!"

Benton walked in as Miliardo saw her mischievous little smile, and he couldn't stop himself. He burst into laughter.

Benton's eyes widened, then looked at Noin. "I see what you mean."

Lady Une threw down her napkin and walked out in a huff.

Noin looked at Benton. "Is there any new information about Trynity Stryfe."

"Unfortunately it seems that she already made plans to leave on an early morning shuttle. By the time we alerted the authorities, she was off the surface already. The shuttle she took reported a rendezvous with a Cinq Kingdom outpost transport. I am sure she is already half-way to the Coalition base."

Miliardo stopped laughing. "If the conference is ready, we should proceed. Miss Stryfe needs our help now!"

"Miliardo! That little snake tried to kill me."

He looked at her. "Lucrezia, she had no choice."

"She would have done it!" pouted Noin, then she sighed. "I suppose we have to do something to at least stop that madman. You can't sleep with one eye open forever."

"Why not?" He chuckled. "It might keep me from getting a black eye."

"Well, you needn't bother staying awake. Your snoring keeps me from getting any sleep at all. I might as well watch out for myself."

Benton cleared his throat.

Miliardo reached out to take her hand. "Let's go plan a battle, my little harem girl, and we'll continue our own another time."

"Harem girl!" She was mumbling as they walked out. "I will make you pay for that!"

Benton chuckled as he followed them.


	24. A meeting of minds

****

Coalition Base

By the clock on the telecom, Duo knew he had slept almost an entire day and a half. Although still very groggy, he dragged himself off to the shower where he blasted himself with hot water that quickly ran cold. Ah, the comforts of being an officer in the Coalition! The duffel bag he usually kept in his gundam for emergencies was on the floor beside the bed, so Duo had clean clothing to replace the crusty, bloody clothing he had been wearing since leaving Earth three days ago. He lifted the shirt to see the hole from the bullet, and after digging out the necklace he had salvaged from the sand, he balled up the clothing and shot it at a wastebasket in the corner.

As he combed through his hair, he walked to the telcom, and activating it, found that he could only communicate with the guards outside his door.

"What do you want?" asked the one who answered his call.

Duo grinned. "Good morning to you, too!"

"It is three in the morning!" he grumbled.

"Sorry to wake you!" Duo snickered.

"I wasn't sleeping. I am on duty."

"Whatever! Can I contact Lieutenant Stryfe?" Duo watched as th guard consulted with his part.

When he turned back, he had an unpleasant grin. "I doubt Captain Nelson wants to be disturbed at this time of the night." Their point was taken, their suggestive little laughter quite unnecessary.

Duo managed to grin although he was seething with anger. "She told me that I could go anywhere I wanted as long you your friendly guys gave me an escort."

They consulted again, then reluctantly confirmed that he was free to leave. So after Duo finished braiding his hair, he buzzed the door and they escorted him to Trynity's room as per his request. Her quarters were in another corridor that wasn't too far from his own. Duo guessed that Nelson was nearby. He wouldn't believe Trynity was sleeping with Nelson unless he saw it for himself.

She did not answer her door, even after he had buzzed several times. The guard gave him a told-you-so look. Duo reasoned that she was in a laboratory somewhere. That was always the first place, beside the beach, where he would look for her at Seaside. They lead him to the laboratory, but when they walked through the quiet, eerie hanger, Duo stopped to look at Deathscythe. Although the cockpit door was hanging open, it didn't seem to be disturbed in any way. Turning, he saw the Shadowhawk and noticed that there was light coming from inside the cockpit and he could see men working. The other gundams stood dark and silent as if waiting patiently to be called back to duty.

Shrugging, he walked through the hanger and the guard took an elevator up. The laboratory was quiet, but he saw one lone light and an orange head bent down staring at a computer screen. He knew she wouldn't be with Nelson!

He smiled at the guards, then sauntered towards the desk. "Hey, babe, the night is still young. Why don't you log off the computer, come back to my room and log on to me."

Duo immediately regretted his words when he realized there were gray strands in the red hair, and the face that turned to him was not young and pretty. Nor was it female. He took a step back.

The man raised his brow. "She was right. You are an idiot." He turned back to the screen.

Duo scratched his head. "Ah…I…I…" Crap! Apologizing to Trynity's father seemed somehow more moronic than what he had said.

Dr. Stryfe waved him quiet as he stared at the screen. Duo took a step closer, expecting to see physics gibberish, but he recognized something far different. "Hey, if you move him through that door to the left, you will find a buster rifle in the treasure chest. You need it to blast the pixies in the next room or you'll spend hours trying to get them all with your saber."

He turned to give him a long, assessing look, then said, "I don't need your help." But he followed Duo's advice then said, "Pull up a chair, kid."

"I'm not a kid," he grumbled as he pulled a stool over to watch the action on the screen. He held out his hand. "I am Duo Maxwell."

"Yes, I know. The fearsome god of death." Dr. Stryfe chuckled as he took his hand, his eyes on his face. "Got a few bruises there, kid. Did my little girl do that to you? She can take care of herself."

Duo remained silent for a moment watching Dr. Stryfe's elf blast away pixies, then said, "So, where is she?" Her father surely knew.

He shrugged. "She takes care of herself, as I just said. I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her in two days." He spun on his chair to look at him, his arms folded over his chest. "I had assumed she was with you."

"Not with me!" he denied quickly. Stryfe already believed the worst of him. "Maybe she's with Nelson," he dared to suggest. He wasn't sure what her father knew about Trynity's personal life.

"He has been in here looking for her several times." Dr. Stryfe sighed and turned back to his computer. He closed his game and began to search through files. "I was quite sure….Well,, perhaps her telecom can give us some answers."

Duo felt relief that Trynity was not with Lars Nelson. Hilde's parting words came back to haunt him, and he couldn't help but wonder if Trynity had moved on. He forced himself from his pessimitic thoughts to watch strings of code roll past on the screen, then he noticed one that was repeated again and again. "What's that?"

Dr. Stryfe chuckled. "I doubt she wants you to see."

"Then I want to see."

"I like the way you think, kid." He accessed the file and Duo saw his own face on the screen. "Hey, you got me, I'm looking for Trynity."

"That's me," he said stupidly, somewhat dazed to realize she had been missing him as much as he had her.

Her father switched the screen back to his search. "Sometimes she surprises me."

"She's just full of surprises." Duo was thinking of how she had kissed him on the beach, how that had lead to other things, a lot of other things. He wanted to be with her now, just to hold her and assure her that things would work out.

Dr. Stryfe drummed his fingers on the table for a moment, then began to access other data. "Do you love my daughter?" he asked without turning around.

"Love? Hey, now that is a rather strong word…" The man turned around to look at him, his shaggy brows drawn together. Duo hung his head. "I know I'm not good enough for her."

"You mean not smart enough?" Dr. Stryfe sniffed. "Intelligence doesn't cut it in some situations." He reached out for a cup of coffee and accidentally bumped it. The liquid ran over the desk straight for the computer. "Oops!" Wires began to fizzle, and then there was a loud pop before the screen went dead.

Duo bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"Always wondered what would happen if I did that." Dr. Stryfe motioned to a warning label on the computer restricting liquids.

"Me too," confessed Duo.

Dr. Stryfe left his chair. "If you liked that, I have something else to show you."

They walked across the lab where there was equipment set up that Duo had not the least idea what it was used for. They stopped before a table where there were two electrodes facing each other. He switched them on and Duo watched as a bright light began to pulse between them. As Dr. Stryfe manipulated them, they began to form waves.

"What is it?" asked Duo as he watched with fascination.

"I haven't the slightest idea," he confessed. "This is a little something Trynity has been working on. Since she isn't around, I thought I would have a little fun with it."

"Good idea." Duo reached out to press the buttons Dr. Stryfe had used to make them change shapes. They grew brighter.

"I like that," said the scientist. He pushed Duo's hand out of the way. "Now, let's see what this baby is capable of!" The waves began twisting around each other. One of them became blue instead of bright white.

"Color!" Duo pushed more buttons, and soon a red stream of light appeared. He glanced at Dr. Stryfe. "What do you suppose happens if we combine them?"

The older man rubbed his chin, then said, "I imagine, purple."

"My thoughts exactly!" Duo pressed buttons until the two streams of light straightened, and then he moved them closer. When they touched, a crackling sound warned them to diver for cover, and as they hit the floor, the crackle became an explosion that sent bits of metal and glass hurtling in the air. An alarm began whining.

"Man, are we in trouble or what?" asked Duo as smoke began to fill the laboratory and he could hear men shouting and the sound of extinguishers.

Dr. Stryfe stood and brushed off his lab coat as if what had happened was an everyday occurrence. When no one reprimanded the, Duo realized that it probably wasn't anything new. "Come along, kid. Let's go somewhere quiet." He waved jauntily to the scowling, cursing technicians and called good morning to them before they left. The guards joined them in the elevator.

They went to Trynity's room where there was again no answer to the buzzer.

"Strange," commented Dr. Stryfe. He stared at the locked door in silence.

"Allow me." Duo stepped forward, then flipped off the cover to the control panel. "This is a cinch! I did this plenty of times at Seaside."

Dr. Stryfe cleared his throat.

Duo looked at him and felt himself blush. "Well…not when she was in there. I mean…well…ah.."

Dr. Stryfe chuckled and put his hand on his shoulder. "Some things just can't be explained."

"Just what do you think you're doing?" demanded one of the stone-faced guards.

Dr. Stryfe frowned at him. "This is my daughter's room! If something has happened to her and you refuse to allow us to enter, I will certainly report your name…" he flipped at the man's ID badge, "corporal Welton."

Corporal Welton's face turned a shade paler. He clearly didn't know what to do, so after consulting with his subordinate, he chose to do nothing. They did remain standing in the hall grumbling when the door slid open and Duo and Dr. Stryfe stepped inside.

Trynity's quarters were neat, and there was no sign that she had been there during the night. Her uniform was folded neatly and lying on her bed. Duo walked into her bathroom and saw that there were no personal items, no toothbrush, no comb, nothing.

"She's gone somewhere," he stated as he returned to the outer room. Dr. Stryfe was already checking her telecom.

"I am surprised she didn't tell me she was going," remarked the older man.

Duo thought the same, but about himself. But she really had no reason to consult him on her activities.

"I don't see anything suspicious," commented Dr. Stryfe.

"Did she get any calls from Nelson?" asked Duo. They might be just one step behind her, and she could be cozy in bed with her trainer.

Dr. Stryfe keyed in the name. There were dozens of unanswered calls from Lars Nelson. Many dated back at least two weeks. Duo chuckled. Poor guy! He wasn't really having much luck with Miss Stryfe.

Dr. Stryfe also laughed. "He is a persistent young man. I am actually beginning to like him. Felt a little sorry for him at L10. He never could quite catch on to his training. Pretended not to notice my little girl following him like a puppy, but she was distracting him all the same. I was quite relieved to not have to crack him over the head with a wrench for taking advantage of her infatuation."

Duo didn't care to hear words of praise for Lars Nelson, first recipient of defensive move number one. He doubted Dr. Stryfe knew about that!

"I thought Trynity was starting to have deeper feelings for him."

Duo definitely didn't want to hear that.

"Are you getting jealous yet?" asked Dr. Stryfe with a chuckle.

Duo frowned at him.

Now Trynity's father laughed. "Well, anyway, Lars wasn't meant to pilot my gundam. Too bad." He sobered as he looked at Duo. "I want you to know that I did not build the Shadowhawk for Trynity. I haven't been a very good father to her, but I would never send her out in that monstrosity. I built it in my rage of revenge, not realizing until it was completed how destructive it was. I wanted it to destroy everything." Dr. Stryfe turned back to the screen. "Because of that gundam I lost everything: my ideals, my wife, and now my daughter. We would have been happier if you had destroyed the damn thing."

"With her in it?" Duo was shocked.

"Of course not! She would have escaped. I redesigned it to protect her at all costs once I realized that she would pilot it. There are certain features in the cockpit…" He stopped talking as he focused his attention on the screen. "She has a message from Colonel Nelson two nights ago."

"It must have been later in the evening," commented Duo. "She didn't say anything about it before she left me to sleep."

Dr. Stryfe accessed the call. _"Lieutenant Stryfe, report to my office immediately." _His tone was low and menacing. _"There is a recurring problem that you need to take care of."_

Duo shuddered. "Nice guy!"

Dr. Stryfe was frowning. "What does he mean by a 'recurring problem?'" He tried to access Nelson's files and found them locked. He sighed, cracked his knuckles and began the lengthy process of breaking through the security barriers of the system. Just as he grunted with success, the door slid open and they turned to see Lars Nelson.

"What are you doing in here?" he demanded as he reached back for his sword.

Dr. Stryfe made a sound of disgust. "Put that thing away. We are obviously unarmed. And don't you have a gun? What do you think you're going to do with a sword in this day and age anyway? You're going to get yourself shot some day."

Lars tucked the sword out of sight, then scowled at Duo, but he asked. "Where is Trynity?"

So the traitor Nelson thought that she was with him? Maybe he wasn't so slow-witted. "We don't know where she is."

"Seems your brother wanted to speak to her." Dr. Stryfe replayed the transmission for Lars.

"She was escorted from the training deck to see him as I got there." From his expression, Duo could see that Lars hadn't been too happy to see her go. He must have had big plans to train. His own fingers closed into a fist. Some day, Nelson, you are going to meet the god of death, up close and personal!

Dr. Stryfe stroked his chin. "What recurring problem is he talking about?"

"How should I know? He doesn't confide in me. I feel as much a prisoner in this place as you are. My brother is missing more than just a few cards in his deck."

Duo almost laughed, then he remembered who was speaking. He looked over Dr. Stryfe's shoulder at the log history on Nelson's telecom, and he suddenly recognized a code that Nelson had repeatedly played. "Hey, do you see that?"

Dr. Stryfe started. "I do, indeed. Now why would that interest him?"

"What is it?" asked Lars, moving closer.

Dr. Stryfe played the transmission. Although Duo saw his face on the screen, it was another voice in the background that had been enhanced. _"Duo! What are you doing? You just fried Dr. J's desk!"_

There was a moment of silence.

Then Duo and Lars burst out at the same time.

"Noin!"

Lars looked at Duo. "She's alive?" He seemed relieved. Wasn't he part of this gang of thugs that wanted her dead?

Dr. Stryfe was searching the logs for further information.

"She's been in hiding," Duo told him. "Someone was trying to kill her."

Lars shifted uncomfortably under Duo's accusing scrutiny. "My brother," he confessed. "He believed it essential to remove her before attacking. Until recently, I believed what he told me."

Idiot, thought Duo.

Dr. Stryfe turned towards them. "Trynity left on a shuttle shortly after these files were last played."

"That bastard!" Lars strode to the door. "I will kill him myself!"

Duo followed him. "What's going on?"

Lars stopped to look at him. "He must have sent her back to Earth to finish the job."

Dr. Stryfe stood and looked at them. "Don't do anything rash, either of you. Especially you, Lars. Find out what you can."

Duo walked over to the telecom. Dr. Stryfe had conveniently disabled the protections on the system, so he leaned forward and quickly typed a message as Dr. Stryfe persuaded Lars to behave rationally, that it would do no one any good if he tangled with his demented brother now. Duo stood anxiously waiting at the screen for a return message that did not arrive until Dr. Stryfe came back across the room to him after Lars had gone.

Duo looked at Dr. Stryfe with a guilty grin. "I was just checking my messages back at Seaside."

He raised a brow then looked down at the screen. Duo followed his gaze.

__

"Meet you on the beach in three nights, sweetheart. I'll bring the blanket and you can bring the fireworks." Hilde winked at him and blew him a kiss. _"You usually do."_

The transmission ended.

Dr. Stryfe was glaring at him.

Duo grinned and shrugged. "She just doesn't know when to give up!"

**********

"Do you think we could get together soon? Bring Dot and the dolls, and we'll meet you down at the beach. The guys are a little tied up right now, but we'll all be there or I'm not the god of death! Just let me know when."

Noin looked at Miliardo, then spoke into a telephone. "I see it Hilde. Send a message back. Three days. We'll need at least that time." She sighed as Hilde began to babble hysterically about his danger, then Noin cut her off with a terse reminder. "Three days. That is the best we can do. Report to Dover for retraining. We need all the pilots we can find. Take Dorothy Catalonia with you." She hung up. "I would be surprised if she didn't screw this up."

"She won't do anything to endanger Duo," predicted Miliardo.

Noin took his hand. "I have to go to Dover."

He raised her hand to his lips. "I know."

They were prevented from kissing when Vice-Minister Une walked into the room. Noin felt great satisfaction at seeing the bruise on her cheek.

"Sorry to interrupt your little tryst! But I think I am owed an explanation." She arched a brow as she looked at Noin.

"We are having an internal problem. It does not concern the World and Space Federation."

"Doesn't it?" She folded her arms and stared at Noin. "Do you have gundams?"

"Two," she stated. "They are essential to the protection of the Cinq Kingdom."

"Protection from whom?"

"The Coalition, of course."

"What happened to the other gundams?" She turned her attention to Miliardo. "Did you really think you could manipulate me? I should have you arrested for what you tried to do to me with your drugs and your doctors."

Noin drew the gun from her holster, checked to be sure it was loaded, then aimed it at the Vice-Minister. "Feel free to try, Lady Une," she said. "I will not hesitate to shoot you."

Miliardo chuckled as Lady Une gasped. "I suggested you return to your room, Vice-Minister."

"This is an outrage! When I get through with the two of you, the World and Space Federation's execution will seem like relief."

She spun and walked to the door.

"We are not following the dictates of the World and Space Federation any longer," stated Miliardo coolly. He walked over to the viewing screen and activated it.

Benton's face appeared, and Noin saw that he was reading his press release.

"…and because the World and Space Federation has ignored the please for assistance from the Cinq Kingdom in overcoming the rebellion of the renegade Colonel Lionel Nelson, Prince Miliardo Peacecraft has a special announcement."

The screen switched to the message Miliardo had recorded earlier in the day. Noin thought he looked very regal. Who could doubt he was meant to rule the Cinq Kingdom? "Many young men and women lost their lives in an attack by the Coalition forces lead by the traitor Lionel Nelson. But the World and Space Federation has refused to offer aid in any form to the Cinq Kingdom. In addition, members of the Cinq Kingdom Assembly who owe their allegiance first to the Federation have made an effort to stop our retaliation. Therefore, I hereby declare this session of the Cinq Kingdom Assembly to be closed and declare our independence from the World and Space Federation effective immediately. We cannot sit idly by as insurrection led by malcontents threatens the security and future of the kingdom. There is no peaceful solution. I will personally lead my troops into battle against the Coalition. I have faith that you will all pray for our victory, because it will also be a victory for the preservation of peace."

Miliardo shut off the screen.

Lady Une sneered. "Very moving, Zechs Merquise. Your don't really think the Federation will let you withdraw without a fight! When you return from dealing with your little internal problem, you will find the World and Space Federation forces awaiting you. I also have complete confidence that the old nobility of the kingdom will demand your abdication."

Noin raised her brows. "Is the Federation willing to take on the gundams?"

Vice Minister Une stalked out angrily.

"Would you like to shoot her now or later?" asked Miliardo with a lift to his brow.

Noin sighed and slipped the gun back into the holster. "I don't have enough time to take her out. I have to go. We'll leave that battle for another day."

He came to her and held her close. "We won't see each other again until it is time to go." He was stroking her hair as she rested her head against his chest. The steady beat of his heart against her cheek was reassuring.

Benton walked it. He wasn't surprised to see them holding each other. "The shuttle is here."

Reluctantly, Miliardo released her, and she followed Benton out without turning back to look at him. She tried to bite back tears, but they spilled over her lashes, so Benton handed her his handkerchief as they descended to the hanger.

"I didn't tell him that I love him," she sniffled.

"He knows," said Benton.

Noin looked at him. "He has never told me."

"He does love you. I am sure that he will tell you when the time is right. I'm also sure that you know it." Then Benton hugged her. "Dry your tears and put on your commander face. The troops at Dover base are expecting Commander Noin, not the weepy future Lucrezia Peacecraft."

Noin laughed as she dabbed away her tears. "That day will never come, Benton."

"Oh, I don't know about that." He winked at her as the door opened, and she was composed enough to issue stern orders to ready the remaining two gundams for space battle before getting on the transport that would take her across the sea to Dover to prepare her troops for the upcoming battle.


	25. The Coalition makes an offer

****

Coalition Base

Stepping off the shuttle, Trynity was greeted by guards who escorted her to Colonel Nelson's office. The man stood as she entered. He was obviously eager to hear that she had shot Commander Noin, so he was going to be furious when he discovered her failure. Trynity had enough time to think about the entire debacle. She had been almost hysterical for much of the return trip and thought she was going to completely crack sitting next to an old woman who droned on and on about her three dogs, one of which she had hidden in her carry-on basket and who whined incessantly. Trynity almost put a gun to the dog's head to shut it up.

That distraction actually took her mind off her dilemma for a while, and when she thought about it later, she began to consider her options more rationally. At some point during the trip, Trynity realized that Nelson could ill-afford to alienate her now. She had been foolish to blindly follow his order in the first place. There was no reason now why Noin should be killed. Little of the Cinq Kingdom power remained after the battle four days ago. What strategic reason necessited her death? None.

"Lieutenant, I trust your mission was a success," said Nelson as he came around his desk.

Trynity straightened as she faced him. "I am afraid I was unable to carry out your dirty little task."

"What?!" Nelson's face reddened and he looked ready to pop. Trynity thought it quite amusing, but she didn't think she should laugh.

But she could enjoy pouring salt on the wound. "Well, I had some trouble. To begin with, not only was Miliardo Peacecraft not interested in looking down my blouse, he was downright suspicious." Trynity realized that her acting abilities were far from perfect, so she recognized the face that the prince didn't believe a single word she said from the start. He must have already guessed who she was before her return. So the pretty boy wasn't as dumb as Nelson thought. "And Commander Noin wasn't standing in his shadow, colonel. She was right beside him."

"She was in the open? Why didn't you just shoot her?"

Trynity could see that Nelson was working himself into a rage. She shrugged. This could get more interesting. "My chances for escape were slim. So I decided to wait until everyone was sleeping."

Nelson stared at her intently. "So what prevented you from blasting the bitch?"

From his reaction, and from the few words Noin had to say about him, Trynity guessed they had once had a relationship that ended badly. "I was about to do it, but imagine my surprise when I found myself face to face with Miliardo Peacecraft."

"What???" Nelson was visibly shocked. "Zechs Merquise was…was…"

Trynity frowned. "Yes. Quite inconvenient. I didn't realize that they slept together. You could have given me some warning what to expect. As far as I knew, she was his commander and nothing more. I wonder if the Cinq Kingdom Assembly knows."

Nelson was speechless. He stared at her dumbly for several moments, and just when she began to feel uncomfortable, he swore, then shouted. "Why didn't you just kill them both?"

"You told me to kill Noin. Next time don't be so specific."

"You…you…" The buzzer to his telecom sounded, and the voice of his aide from the outer office interrupted him.

"Colonel Nelson, there is a priority call for you."

"I am busy!"

"It is Commander Noin of the Cinq Kingdom."

Nelson stomped to his telecom, then put the call on the overhead screen behind his desk. Trynity thought him rather foolish as he ran his hands through his hair, smoothed his mustache and straightened his coat before she appeared on the screen. Did he hope to impress her with his good looks?

"Lucrezia, you are looking good for someone who has been dead…"

"Cut the bullshit, Nelson!"

He sniffed and tugged the edge of his uniform. "There is no need to be uncivil."

"No? You attempt to kill me not once, not twice, but three times, and I have no reason to be uncivil? You attack the Cinq Kingdom with its own troops and you see no reason for me to be uncivil?" Commander Noin was furious. Trynity was enjoying the hell she was giving the traitor.

Nelson smiled at her. "The Cinq Kingdom as it was, is no longer. I have the power now, Lucrezia. The Peacecraft era has come to an end." He leaned closer to the screen. "I would be willing to take you as a commanding officer, my dear. Surrender your troops and we can avoid further bloodshed. Give me Zechs Merquise, and I will give you anything you desire."

Noin leaned close to her screen. "The only thing I am going to give you Lionel Nelson is a bullet in the place of my choosing. Don't bother sending another assassin. We will be meeting in battle before he or she can reach the Cinq Kingdom."

"Are you sure you won't reconsider? We would be so good together, Lucrezia, like we used to."

The screen went blank.

Nelson shrugged and sighed. "What a woman! I should never have ended our affair. I just didn't think she wouldn't be there when I wanted her back, and she was far too demanding. Why would anybody want her? She was so stubborn. I just couldn't deal with a woman like that! Unfortunately, I will have to kill her now. I suppose I could wait a few weeks and she will drive Miliardo Peacecraft to kill her." He started laughing to himself. "I would love to see Zechs Merquise put his hands around her lovely slender throat and squeeze…"

The odd light that was in his eyes disgusted Trynity. "May I go?" His downward spiral into complete insanity was something she did not want to be a part of.

He snapped out of his little fantasy and turned his attention back to her. "Lieutenant, I am very disappointed in you."

"I will try to live with it."

Nelson's smile chilled her. "I did warn you, remember that."

"So then, are you going to kill us all?" she challenged him. "Which will you execute first? My father? His control of the cloaking net is invaluable to you. Duo Maxwell? He is the only gundam pilot who will fight for you. Lars? As of now, he is the only pilot capable of flying a gundam. Without the other pilots, you have only two gundams. There are two in the Cinq Kingdom, the Epyon and the Valkyrie, which will be piloted by two very skilled pilots. You can't afford to make me regret my failure."

"You have everything figured out," he remarked as he stroked his mustache.

"Everything." Trynity wasn't gong to back down. "You heard Noin. They are going to counterattack soon. You need all of us."

"I need the rest of the gundam pilots!" he shouted at her. "Talk to them!"

Trynity doubted it would do any good. She left Nelson's office feeling more confident. Although she wondered where Duo was, she went straight to her room. The shuttle trip had been exhausting, and she was emotionally drained. How foolish she had been to worry! Although there was still danger, Trynity knew she could manage it.

After taking a shower, she wrapped in a towel and sat on her bed to comb through her hair, and when she finished, she laid down to sleep. As she drifted off, she wondered if anyone had noticed she was gone.

Sometime in the middle of a pleasant dream involving Duo and a far different ending to the Stardust Ball, she felt something tickling her nose. She wiped with her and it stopped for a moment, then began again. Trynity turned on her side away from it and started to doze only to be tickled again on her bare shoulder. Annoyed, she slapped back, and her hand cam in contact with a thick braid of hair.

Trynity grabbed it and turned around to find herself in Duo's arms. "Miss Stryfe! What are you going to do with my hair?"

She smiled at him. "Mr. Maxwell, what would you like me to do with it?"

"I'm just going to have to trust you, Miss Stryfe."

"You might be making a mistake." Trynity pulled him to her with his braid. "You appear to be my prisoner.

"I like the sound of that!" He lowered his head to hers. Trynity closed her eyes as he kissed her. This was much better than her dream. But when she felt her towel slipping away, she pushed away his hands. 

"Mr. Maxwell, just what do you think you are doing? She asked with her best impression of Mr. Himmler, headmaster of the Royal Academy.

Duo chuckled and tugged the towel. "You can't even begin to imagine." Despite her best efforts, the towel ended up across the room. "Now that's much better."

Trynity giggled. "Should I trust the god of death?"

"I don't think you have much choice." He kissed her again, and Trynity made no further protests. For awhile she gave no thought to their danger or what might happen tomorrow or the next day. She put herself completely in Duo's hands, just as she had on the beach. She had to live for now, to give and take as she wanted because they might not make it through the next battle, or the next.

Long after Duo dozed off, Trynity remained awake and watched him sleep. Duo Maxwell, the pilot of the Deathscythe gundam 02. She could have killed him that very first encounter when she had disabled the Epyon. She wanted to kill him at school. How could all those aggravating moment have led to this, lying content in his arms? Trynity just didn't understand why she felt this way about him. She had to trust him. She had given him everything.

Sighing and not wanting to be alone with her thoughts, she picked up his braid and began to tickle him, just as he did her when she had been sleeping.

One of his eyes popped open. "Is it morning?"

Trynity laughed softly. "I think it is late afternoon. I arrived this morning."

He propped himself on and elbow and reached out to dig his fingers in her hair. "Well, let's not get up until tomorrow morning."

She smiled and laid back. "There's too much to do." She turned her head to look at him. "You didn't ask where I was. Didn't you notice I was gone?"

"Not really."

Trynity felt disappointed. "How did you keep yourself busy?"

He chuckled. "I helped your father with a project. Kept us busy."

She frowned. "_You_ helped _him_?"

"You might be surprised, Miss Stryfe."

"Nothing you do surprises me anymore." She kissed his lips, then his chin, then his neck before moving downward.

"You can be quite surprising," said Duo. He stopped her progress and brought her back up so that he could look in her eyes. "Did you kill Noin?"

Trynity could see that he was trying not to judge her, but she suspected that Miliardo Peacecraft was right about him. Duo's conscience couldn't accept her if she killed Noin. "I couldn't."

He sighed with relief. "I knew you wouldn't!"

"I didn't say that I wouldn't." she corrected him. "I said that I couldn't. I was caught and barely managed to escape."

"I prefer what I was thinking."

Trynity tried to push him away. "I can't change what I am."

"No, but you can change what you do." He pulled her against him and forced her head to his shoulder. "Be quiet and go to sleep. I haven't gotten a wink since I realized you were gone. I was worried sick something might happen to you or that you would kill Noin. She is my friend, Trynity."

"How will you feel when you must face your friend in battle?" she asked softly, fearing his answer. "The Cinq Kingdom is preparing an offensive."

"I will worry about that when the time comes. Now go to sleep." He closed his eyes.

Trynity smiled. "I'm not really sleepy." She began again what he had interrupted, kissing a trail downward, pausing to check to see that his flesh wound was healing nicely. Duo was pretending to sleep, but by the time she reached his navel, his eyes were on her.

"Miss Stryfe, you are a fast learner."

"I have a good teacher."

She would have continued, but the buzzer sounded. 

"Who the hell is that?" muttered Duo, frustrated that her progress had been stalled.

"It must be Lars. He must have discovered that I am back."

"Ignore him. He'll go away." Duo clearly did not want her to stop, and she felt more than a little wicked continuing. But after a moment, the buzzer sounded again, this time a little more insistently.

Duo cursed as Trynity moved away. As she found a shirt on the floor to slip on, Duo pulled on his pants, and he suddenly had a gun in his hand. 

"Where did you get that?" she demanded.

He didn't answer her question. "I think it's high time for Captain Nelson to meet the god of death!" Duo pulled back the clip to ready it for firing.

She was about to scold him when they were both startled by the voice on the other side of the door.

"Trynity, I know you are in there. If you don't open this door, I will be forced to hot-wire the lock like that young Maxwell…now what is this? Your lock is already…"

"Your father!" Duo dived beneath her bed with such haste she was surprised he hadn't accidentally discharged the gun. She was about to tell the fearsome god of death that he would better off hiding in the cramped closed when the door slid open.

Dr. Stryfe walked in. "Trynity, why didn't you answer the door? Did you know your lock has been tampered with?"

She went to greet him with a kiss although she was burning with intense embarrassment over what her father had interrupted. "I…I must have been sleeping pretty soundly."

"Indeed." He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "I know you must have had a harrowing experience these last few days. Nelson informed me of your failure."

"I do so enjoy hearing that word," she remarked.

"Failure is not always bad." Her father chuckled and went to sit on the edge of her bed. "I want to hear what happened."

Trynity pulled forward the only chair in her room and sat near him as she told him from start to finish what had occurred on Earth. At least she would be saved the trouble of repeating the story for Duo's benefit later. As Dr. Stryfe listened, he shifted several times on the bed as if he were uncomfortable.

"So," he concluded when she had finished, "Commander Noin is out for his blood now. We reviewed a transmission from Earth two days ago. Not only did Miliardo Peacecraft disband the National Assembly, he has declared independence from the World and Space Federation. Without the Federation's help, they will find it difficult if not impossible to defeat the Coalition."

"Then we are on the winning side," she commented.

He sighed. "Trynity, there is right and wrong. Have you not yet discovered which is which?"

"Father, haven't you heard that might is right?

He frowned and turned away to look at her bed. "How do you sleep on this thing?" He pounded on the visible lumps. Trynity cringed for Duo's sake. At least he kept his mouth shut.

She reached over to grab her father's hands. "I'm quite used to my mattress. In fact, if you keep that up, I will have to get used to it all over again."

Dr. Stryfe stood. "I doubt that will be too difficult for you." He kissed the top of her head. "Will I see you in the lab later, pumpkin?"

Trynity was reminded of something Duo had said earlier. "Father, you aren't working with that buffoon, Duo Maxwell, are you? What kind of project could you possibly share with him?"

"You aren't jealous, are you?" His shaggy brow was raised.

"Of Duo Maxwell?" Trynity laughed. "Don't' be ridiculous. I am just worried that the two of you will destroy the universe."

He chucked under her chin. "Don't worry, pumpkin. Our project is rather harmless." He put his hand on her shoulder, then plucked at the shirt she had put on. "This is a little big for you, isn't it?"

Trynity looked down and realized that she was wearing Duo's shirt. She felt her cheeks burning, but she managed to smile at him. "I like to wear big shirts to bed."

He walked around the other side of the bed and she held her breath. "Perhaps that shirt goes with this?" Bending over, he reached down and pulled up a braid. "What do you suppose is at the other end?"

Trynity bit her lip to keep from laughing as he pulled hard.

"Hey! What do you Stryfes have against my hair? Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Dr. Stryfe pulled him to his feet. Trynity couldn't tell what was going through his mind as he looked at Duo. "I'm not going to bother asking for an explanation," he finally said.

"Good," said Duo with a silly grin, "Because I didn't think you'd find me, so I don't have a good one ready."

To her surprise, her father chuckled and released him. "This reminds me of the time her mother and I decided to run a little late night experiement at the university laboratory and…" He frowned and look at Duo. "Forget that I mentioned it."

Duo seemed to sense a good story. The two were like peas in a pod, thought Trynity with amusement. "So what's the rest? Come on, Dr. Stryfe! How did your little experiment turn out? Was there an explosion?"

"Oh my yes! There were fireworks in the lab that night!" He snorted with laughter, and seeing that Trynity was frowning, he came to give her a hug. "And this is the result of our little experiment."

Duo blinked a few times as he looked at the smiling Dr. Stryfe, then as awareness of his meaning set in, the color slowly drained from his face.

Dr. Stryfe was still laughing as he walked out.

Before Duo could say anything - Trynity suspected that he was worrying about what her father had implied - her telecom buzzed. She turned around to answer it, and Lars' face appeared on the screen.

"You're back! I've been training new pilots on the Sagitariens and just returned."

"I got back this morning," she said.

"I missed you." Lars' expression was touching. Trynity felt guilty for spending the day in bed with Duo.

"Hey," said Duo loudly. "Can I have my shirt back?"

Lars' brows drew together. "Is Maxwell with you?"

Trynity smiled at him, and his expression relaxed. She wondered what it was about her smile that made men act so ridiculous. Oh well, she might as well use it to her advantage. "I will meet you later, Lars. We can talk then."

"In the training room?" he suggested eagerly.

"Of course! In about an hour." That would give her enough time to figure out how to let Lars down gently.

"I will count every second." The transmission ended.

"He probably can't count that high," scoffed Duo as he came up behind Trynity. His hands reached around to unzip his shirt.

When it dropped to the floor around her feet, he tried to touch her, but she danced away, then found her uniform lying on the floor. Quickly pulling it on, she finished by tucking a gun into the belt at her waist. Trynity didn't trust Colonel Nelson. She would use the gun to protect those she loved. Although disappointed that their afternoon together had come to an end, Duo wasted no time in getting dressed. As he was fussing with his hair, she returned to her telecom to review the messages she had received. There were so many from Lars that she decided to delete them. She noted one from Duo, then she noticed that she had received a message from Earth.

She played it and was surprised to see Hilde's face on the screen.

"Meet yo on the beach in three nights. I'll bring the blanket, and you bring the fireworks." Hilde winked. "As you usually do."

When it ended, Trynity froze the screen and stared at Hilde's face. There was silence in the room, and she knew that Duo had seen the message too. Trynity could not even breathe as something dark and uncontraollable started to creep up from deep within her. When it broke the surface, she turned slowly and looked at Duo.

Duo had seen this creature before. It was that beast that lived in every female born in the universe. For some reason, he hadn't expected it to be in Trynity, but he was facing it now. "Hey, it isn't what you think!" That was rather lame, but then, wasn't it the line a guy was supposed to use when confronted with the green-eyed monster. Were Trynity's eyes usually that green?

"You don't know what I am thinking!" She slammed down the view of the telecom and Duo thought it was rather amusing to see Hilde's face smashed on the table. It ceased to be funny when Trynity flung the remains of her telecom at his head.

Duo ducked it, and it shattered against the wall, the pieces raining over him. Duo knew he was in big trouble. "Listen to me, Trynity," he started, not exactly sure where he would go with it.

She picked up the chair. This wasn't going to be pleasant! That chair was made of metal! She could whack him with it forever and it wouldn't break. But Trynity chose to throw it, and he dived to the floor just in time to avoid it. Duo was remembering how she had thrown Wufei's triangle of death in Dr. Plume's class. She could kill him quite easily!

He started to crawl to the door. "Trynity, the least you could do is listen to me!"

"Listen to what? How did she know where to send her message? You must have contacted her!" The table overturned. Duo definitely feared for his life. He shouldn't have pulled this crap on her! He dared to peek around the room for possible projectiles and saw that there were no decorations, no statues, no pictures. She was out of ammo!

Duo stood and turned to her. "Trynity, I can explain…Trynity! What are you doing with the gun?" Dumb question! A bullet whizzed past his ear. He scrambled to the door as she fired another.

"Is this how you treat women?" she demanded angrily. "Are you like a bee buzzing around in a garden?"

"Now that sounds like Quatre Raberba Winner," commented Duo.

A bullet buried into the wall nearby. "If you hadn't bailed on Mrs. Drivel's class that day, you would have heard that insipid line! Well, I don't care to be a rose or a lily in your garden, Duo Maxwell."

"I rather thought you were more like a thistle," he commented. A few more bullets decorated the wall behind him. What was he saying to her? He was blathering like an idiot! He was an idiot!

At least Duo was pretty sure that she wasn't going to kill him. But it didn't keep him from being scared witless.

"Get out!"

He turned to open the door, then looked back over his shoulder to see Trynity reloading the gun. "You aren't going to cry over this, are you?" Hilde always cried about such things. He didn't want to imagine Trynity crying over that message.

In answer, she aimed the gun and fired. He felt his braid jump as the bullet tore through it. Duo lunged into the hall and flattened himself against the wall to the side. When the door slid shut, he heaved a sigh of relief, then reached up to inspect his braid. Singed hair and few broken strands. No significant damage. "She's a damn good shot!" He noticed his ever-present guards staring at him with wide eyes. "Hey guys, what's up? Say, can you take me to that training room? I want to check it out?" As he followed them, he rubbed his hands together. "I'll meet you, too, in the training room, Lars Nelson. But I won't be counting the seconds." He tapped one of the guards on the shoulder. "Do you have a watch?"

The guards remained in the hall as Duo entered the training deck. By the time he had gotten there, his mind had conjured up images of a romantic getaway where Lars Nelson tried to work his charm on Trynity Stryfe. But reality was far removed from his ridiculous imagination. The training deck was a training facility. There were targets set up near the wall for archery, and a vast array of weapons mounted on the wall opposite the panoramic view of the dark side of the moon. The place gave Duo the creeps. What kind of lunk head tried to put moves on a girl in a place like this?

He stood before the weapons, seeing staffs, swords, pikes, and one that caught his eye. Duo chuckled as he lifted a scythe. So the god of death was expected! No doubt Lars had handled it in helping Trynity to train for the Shadowhawk's fight with the Deathscythe. They must have put in quite a few hours in this place. 

As he wandered around, he wondered how long he would have to wait for the intended victim when he noticed a crate of ice. For injuries? Nelson was going to need it! But he noticed a can, and reaching in, he pulled out a beer.

His brows raised. "Is this part of training?" He doubted it. Without a second thought, he popped it open and downed it without pausing to take a breath, and then he crushed the can and tossed it behind him. Grabbing another one, he wandered to the viewing area and stared at the moon as he drank. He thought back to the first attack on the Deathscythe, and he almost choked on the beer as he realized Trynity must have been in the Sagitarien that had pestered Nelson in his Artemis. What she had done was so out of character that he just knew she must have been drinking. So that was what they did! Train a little, drink a little, and then… Is this where he had taught her to kiss? 

Duo swung the scythe and imagined Nelson's head rolling.

But he went back to the crate and grabbed another can. It wasn't half-bad. At least he had something to do while he planned his attack. When should he do it? Where should he hide? He noticed another door, and checking it, found that it was a storage area. After taking another couple of cans, he decided to wait in there. Too bad he was going to make a bloody mess of the floor, but someone had to look out for Trynity Stryfe. Might as well be him. She was his, and he wasn't about to let Lars Nelson put his grubby hands on her.

He held the scythe as he waited and finished another beer. Where were they? Who were they? Oh, yeah, Trynity Stryfe and Lars Nelson. He had better stop drinking. His thoughts were becoming quite jumbled. But soon enough he was thirsty and he fell back on a box as he sipped another beer. He was tired. When he had heard Trynity was back, he should have just gone to sleep himself. No, he had to go see her, and she had to look so darn good lying there in a towel. Ever since the first moment he saw her at his feet at school, he couldn't think straight with her in a room. Single-handedly she had destroyed his school career. Well, maybe not, but how was he supposed to write an essay when she was so close by? What was that essay for featherhead? Oh yes, about a rose and a lily and a thistle. Wait! That wasn't it! 

Damn, his can was empty! Although it took considerable effort, he staggered out to get another, then laughed when he realized there was only one left. Too bad, Nelson! Your plan is shot to hell! 

Duo fell into the storage closet, the scythe landing over him. He sat up a moment to drink, then fell back, closing his eyes. Just what was Colonel Nelson trying to do, making the colony spin like this? Crap, that beer had a kick! He tried to struggle up and succeeded only in knocking a box of towels on his head. Duo snorted with laughter, then snapped his mouth shut. He could hear someone coming! 

When Trynity entered the training room, Lars was already shooting at his target. He set aside his bow and came to greet her. When he lowered his head to kiss her, she turned her head aside so that he kissed her cheek.

Lars was disappointed, but he managed to smile. "I am glad you came."

She took off her jacket, set her gun aside, and picked up a staff. "I hope you are here to fight, Lars, because I am certainly in a mood to bash someone's head in."

He laughed and picked up his own staff. They took up positions opposite each other. "I hope I am not the cause."

"No. Not this time."

"Maxwell?" He attacked, and she held him off. 

"I don't want to talk about it, Lars." She swung her staff, and he ducked. She almost lost her balance.

"What did I tell you about concentrating, Itsy Bitsy?"

"I don't really care for that nickname." She swung again, and he put up his staff to stop her, then turned and tried to hit her from the back, but she parried the blow.

"I brought beer."

"That's all I need," she grumbled. Maybe she should get drunk! Then she could forget about Duo and Hilde. If only Duo were in front of her now! She would take the staff and bash it over his head just like so, except he wouldn't be able to defend himself like Lars had just done.

Lars laughed as he shoved her back after her attack. "We don't really want to be doing this, do we?"

"Speak for yourself!" She swung at him high, then quickly swiped low, knocking his feet from under him. 

Lars hit the mat flat on his back and grinned up at her. "I wonder where you learned that move, lieutenant."

Trynity smiled, then reached down to take his hand to pull him up. "I don't know, captain. I'd say I have surpassed my instructor. He has nothing left to teach me."

He had left his staff on the floor, and he now put his hands over hers where she gripped the staff and stepped close to her. "I could teach you a lot more, Trynity." He was lowering his head again. She briefly considered the possibility of paying Duo back for his betrayal by letting Lars kiss her. But she liked Lars. Trynity didn't want to use him.

"I'm sorry, Lars," she said as she moved her head back from his kiss.

He sighed and rested his forehead against hers. "That jerk Maxwell is under your skin, isn't he?"

She looked into his eyes. "I wish it were you, Lars."

"I wish it were me, too." He cupped her cheek in his hand. "I wasted my chance with you Trynity Stryfe, back on L10. I am sorry I treated you like I did."

Trynity smiled. "I am sorry you did too. If you hadn't been such a fool, I wouldn't find myself in love with an idiot."

He kissed her nose. "I will be there for you, Itsy Bitsy, when you need me. You can count on me."

"Hey! Get your hands off my thistle…thistle…what the hell…why is the room moving?"

Trynity spun quickly to see Duo, and she forgot she was holding the staff. She smacked Lars so hard that he fell back on the floor like a toppled tree. Duo was staggering toward her, a towel draped on his head, swinging the scythe.

"Duo, what are you doing?" she demanded.

"Beware the god of death! Crap! No one ever listens to me!" He tripped forward and Trynity had to swing her staff to defend against the scythe. It flew from Duo's hands, and fell harmlessly against the wall. 

Trynity turned back. "Duo Maxwell, you jackass! Are you drunk?"

He was swaying as he stood before her. His eyes weren't focusing. "Trynity, this place is off balance! Let's get to our gundams and get the hell out of here before it crashes into the moon. Now, where is that jerk? Where did he go? Coward! There he is!" Duo lunged forward, tripped on the lower part of her staff and landed on the floor beside Lars.

She stared at them for a moment. Lars was unconscious, a bruise forming on his forehead, and Duo was so drunk he couldn't get up. With disgust, she tossed aside her staff and walked out. She had too much to do to baby-sit them. If they wanted to fight when they came to, she didn't care what the result was. A few bruises never hurt any guy. Lars could handle himself, and he was too smart to kill Duo. But she hoped Lars pounded him senseless. After reviewing his message to Earth, Trynity truly wanted to put a bullet in Duo Maxwell. What was he doing making plans to meet Hilde on _her_ telecom? How did he think he was going to meet her? Did he think Nelson would trust him enough to allow him the freedom to come and go as he pleased?

The guards at the cell containing the other pilots saluted her. She gave them instructions, then went straight to a recreation lounge in the officer's wing. As she waited, she got herself a cup of hot chocolate then sat on a leather couch. She put up her feet and grabbed the telecom, which she used to access her own files.

The message Duo had sent to Hilde flashed on the screen. _"Do you think we could get together soon? Bring Dot and the dolls, and we'll meet you down at the beach. The guys are a little tied up now, but we'll all be there or I'm not the god of death! Just let me know when."_

Before she could ponder it further, the door slid open and Trowa Barton walked in. He looked around the room, and then his gaze came to rest on her. She wanted to smile at him to make him feel at ease, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was far too distracted by Duo's betrayal. Instead she turned her attention back to the screen.

Trowa came to stand behind her. "I guess you want my answer."

She stared at the words, her anger building once again.

"I have given it a great deal of thought, Lieutenant Stryfe."

What did Duo mean by asking Hilde to bring Dot and the dolls?

"I am sure that Colonel Nelson will be greatly disappointed by my decision, but I feel that I must decline. I have several reasons which I will outline to you."

Dot was obviously Dorothy Catalonia. Trynity accessed a file on the obnoxious girl as Trowa droned on and on in minute detail about his reasons for not accepting Nelson's offer to become a traitor. She wished he would shut his mouth so she could concentrate.

Dorothy Catalonia, grand-daughter of Duke Dermail, had been involved in the White Fang insurrection with Miliardo Peacecraft.

"And so," concluded Trowa, "I regret that I cannot in good conscience take my gundam into battle against the Cinq Kingdom." He brushed back his bangs, and she saw that he looked at her with both eyes.

Trynity turned from the screen to give him her attention. She stared at him for a moment, then turned back to her screen without speaking. She read the message from Duo, then replayed Hilde's. 

_"Meet you on the beach in three nights. I'll bring the blanket and you bring the fireworks. You usually do."_

Trowa made a noise, and she turned to look at him. "Do you think it's funny?"

He shook his head. "I…I'm sorry Duo is a jerk. But what did you expect? He has no loyalty, not even to us."

She frowned. "What do you think he wants Dorothy Catalonia to meet him for? And dolls? What dolls?"

Trowa threw up his hands. "Don't ask me to explain what those guys are up to. I never got involved." But his smirk told her that it was some sordid activity, and she became so angry she shouted for the guard to take him away. She might never see Trowa Barton again. The thought was oddly sad, but he had made his choice, and he had done so after great consideration. There was actually some depth to his character. Surprising.

Shrugging, she turned back to the message and was re-reading it when Heero Yuy was thrown into the room. Apparently he had given the guards a run when he attempted to escape. Trynity didn't really listen to their angry explanation as to why he was shackled at the wrists. She ordered them to unbind him, then turned back to her message.

"Aren't you afraid I will attack you, Lieutenant Stryfe?" he asked, his tone low.

Trynity couldn't believe that Duo met his girls on the beach. She had been on the beach enough times at night that she would have seen them. She also felt hurt thinking of him doing with Hilde what they had done.

"Lieutenant Stryfe?" Heero came closer.

Trynity looked at him. "I suppose you will refuse Colonel Nelson's offer also."

"I won't fight for a traitor."

"Fair enough." She accessed Hilde's file and found that she had piloted mobile suits for OZ. Strange! She had assumed the girls at school were brainless, spineless females only interested in roping a man. 

_"Meet you on the beach in three nights. I'll bring the blanket and you bring the fireworks. You usually do."_

Did Duo resume his relationship with Hilde after she had left? Did she tenderly bid him farewell when he had gone on his mission? Was she piloting a mobile suit from the Cinq Kingdom during the attack? She must have known he was a gundam pilot all along! They all knew! Relena, Dorothy, Hilde. Trynity felt like a fool and more of an outsider than she already was! She balled her hands into fists as she thought of the day on the archery range when she had made a comment about the mobile suit base accident. They had known that Wufei had tangled with the Shadowhawk, and they had treated her like a nosy simpleton.

Suddenly a disk dropped on the table before her. She picked it up. The label read, Mission: Destroy Zorbon Empire. Trynity turned to look at Heero. The oaf actually carried his game with him!

"As long as I am going to die, I want one last request."

Trynity frowned. "Who said you would be getting a last request?"

He shrugged. "It is standard in such situations."

"You have made a faulty assumption about the Coalition." She flung the disk back at him. "I defeated you fair enough."

"That was before I knew you were a gundam pilot! Now we will play on equal terms."

As Trynity stared at Hilde's file, Heero rummaged through cabinets until he managed to find dusty visors to play the game. He began the disk and handed her the visor.

"This time we will both play at superior levels."

Trynity tossed aside the visor. "There is no need to play, Heero Yuy. The Zorbon knight defeated you, I met you in space with Shadowhawk. As a result you are here!"

"With the help of your friend, Captain Nelson," he sneered. "One on one, you have never defeated me."

She took the disk from the player and tossed it to him. "I believe I did defeat you."

Heero was very disappointed until he glanced at her screen. "Has Hilde been captured? Figures she would try to rescue Duo."

Trynity switched to her message. "So you think she will attempt to rescue him? Brave and stupid."

"Especially since he doesn't give a tinker's damn about her," laughed Heero.

Trynity turned to look at him. "Then why would he set up this little meeting with her?" She played the message Duo had sent.

Heero stared at it for a moment, looked at her blankly, then shrugged. "Who can tell? Maybe he changed his mind when he saw the alternative wasn't as good as he remembered." Trynity tried not to be hurt by his words. How could she have been so naïve with Duo? Easy. Trynity desperately wanted to cling to someone, to have someone care about her. Duo's acting was just so good!

Heero raised the disk. "This is your last chance, Lieutenant Stryfe."

Trynity sighed. "I am sorry, Heero Yuy, but the Zorbon Knight was victorious. Sometimes good does triumph over evil."

Heero walked to the door where he paused to look back at her. "Only in virtual games, Trynity Stryfe."

When he was gone, Trynity stared at the screen. She wished he hadn't said that! Between Duo and her father she was already becoming confused. She needed to stay focused on her mission. And she had only one, which was to keep her father safe. Governments changed heads frequently. The strong always triumphed. But Trynity had only one father, and she loved him dearly. For a moment she had allowed herself to include Duo in her life, but she had been foolish in believing he cared about her. So she had a remedial lesson in men: they still could not be trusted. Get that through your head, Miss Stryfe!

"Trynity!" Quatre rushed towards her after the guards left him at the door. He fell to his knees by the couch and grabbed her hands to kiss. "Trynity, you can save us!"

She pulled her hands away. "Why would I want to do that?" She pulled up Dorothy Catalonia's file again. There was something she was missing. Perhaps Quatre could shed some light. "Did you know that Dorothy sneaks around behind your back with Duo?"

His eyes became larger than they normally were. She showed him the message from Duo, and she noticed his face become bright pink with anger. "That…that witch!"

"What is this little activity with dolls?"

"Dolls? What dolls? Oh, those dolls! Well, she…" he bit his lip and suddenly became silent.

Trynity realized that he was hiding something. She reached out to take a handful of his shirt and jerked him forward so that she was nose to nose with him. "What dolls does she play with?"

Of all the depraved ideas that might have come to her mind, she hardly expected his answer. "The mobile dolls!" he squeaked, his voice so high a pitch it almost hurt her ears.

Trynity dropped him and he sagged to the couch. She spun to look at the screen. "Mobile dolls!"

_"Meet you on the beach in three nights. I'll bring the blanket and you bring the fireworks."_

"Don't bother sending another assassin." Noin had told Nelson. _"We will be meeting in battle before he or she can reach Earth."_

She had seemed so confident for the commander of an army doomed to defeat. Even inexperienced pilots in the gundams could cause considerable damage against what was left of the Cinq Kingdom forces. With a sinking feeling, Trynity realized Duo had not sent the message to Hilde at all, but to Commander Noin. He wasn't her ally. Duo was still her enemy.

Quatre was babbling. "I have money. I have more than enough money to make anyone happy! Tell Nelson I will pay him to let us live. But I just can't take my Sandrock against the Cinq Kingdom. I can't!"

Trynity looked at him. "Nelson doesn't want money. He wants revenge."

Quatre hung his head. "Revenge is not something that can be bought."

"Very astute, Mr. Winner." She shut off her computer. "You may return to your cell. Get some rest. I imagine you will be needing it before tomorrow."

"Is Duo all right?" he asked as he stood.

Trynity sighed. "For now."

She buzzed the guards at the cell. "Don't bother bringing Chang Wufei. I doubt his answer will be any different." The last thing she wanted to deal with now was Wufei. 

She made her way to Nelson's office, and he was not pleased to hear that she had no success in talking them out of their suicidal heroism. She didn't listen to his plans to execute them the following day at midnight. Trynity knew it wouldn't happen.

She returned to her room, and as she lay on the bed hugging her pillow, she let her tears fall. 

Trynity felt alone again.


	26. Escape from the dark side of the moon

****

Coalition Base

Duo threw himself onto a stool beside Dr. Stryfe. After sleeping the entire night on that cold floor in the training room, his body ached, and his head felt like it was going to split down the middle as his stomach churned unpleasantly.

Trynity's father glanced at him, then pushed his cup of steaming coffee towards him.

As he lifted the cup to his lips, Duo noticed Trynity standing at the table where her project had been. Seeing her gave him a warm feeling inside, he thought as he sipped the coffee. When she turned around, he flinched expecting a scowl for the blackened crater where her project had once been, but she surprised him with a smile that made his insides turn to jelly, then walked towards them.

"Is she angry about it?" asked Duo when he recovered. Her cheery smile was almost scary.

"She hasn't said anything," responded her father. He seemed a little nervous too.

Trynity stopped before them. "Am I interrupting your work?"

They both shook their heads.

She motioned back to her table. "My experiment seems to have disappeared. You two wouldn't know anything about it?"

Duo didn't move a muscle.

Dr. Stryfe took the coffee from him. "I'm afraid there was a little accident, pumpkin."

"Father! I asked you not to play with my experiment!" She crossed her arms and glared at him, then she laughed. Duo liked the sound of it. She hugged and kissed the top of her father's head. "You are so predictable! I knew you would screw it up."

"I had some help," he admitted.

Trynity looked at Duo, and her smile almost made him slide off the chair. His stomach knotted, his heart pounded, and his head felt like it was floating. "How are you feeling, Mr. Maxwell? You look at little green."

"Hey, did I act like a fool yesterday?" He already knew the answer.

"No more than usual." She hooked her arm around his and glanced at her father. "Do you mind if I take Duo?"

"Just be gentle with him, pumpkin."

She laughed softly as they walked from the lab to the hanger. "Just what were you planning to do on the training deck?"

"I don't know!" He did, but he wasn't going to admit to Trynity how foolishly jealous he had been. He had only succeeded in making as ass of himself. "What was he doing with beer in there anyway?"

Releasing him, she leaned against the foot of the Deathscythe. Now there was a sight he wasn't going to forget. Trynity Stryfe and his gundam. Life couldn't get any better. Well, maybe it could with a couple of painkillers for his headache and a massage for his aching muscles. 

"Maybe he gets thirsty," she answered him. "And besides, Lars likes it when I get drunk." 

Duo was seeing red now. "Does he? Where is Captain Nelson? I have something I would like to discuss with him."

"Training Sagitarien pilots, so you needn't hurry back for your scythe any time soon, O Fearsome God of Death. Intelligence reports indicate that the Cinq Kingdom is arming for a counterattack, so he is making some last minute training flights with his men."

Duo looked at his feet. He couldn't face Trynity knowing that he would not stay by her side. Maybe if he talked some sense into her… "Trynity, why do you continue to fight for Nelson?"

"Are you having a change of heart, Duo? Then I should escort you back to the cell to join with your friends. I spoke to each of them – well I didn't bother with Wufei – and each refused to fight for the Coalition. They are to be executed at midnight. Nelson is planning to broadcast the event to the Cinq Kingdom to prove that Miliardo Peacecraft is a militaristic leader who would sacrifice the lives of the young people he is supposed to be protecting."

"That is a load of crap!" Her matter of fact tone infuriated him. Had he completely misjudged Trynity? Duo felt his heart breaking as he looked at her. "We were gundam pilots long before Zechs Merquise settled us in the Cinq Kingdom."

"How did you all become pilots?" she asked as she reached out to take his braid in her hand. 

"Each of us was discovered and trained for Operation Meteor. Hell, I had nothing to lose. Trowa didn't even have a name. Heero had already been trained to kill. Wufei was fighting his own personal battle, and Quatre…well Quatre has high ideals, but I think he likes to use his gundam to destroy although he will tell you otherwise. Personally, I think there's a spoiled rich boy thing going on in his air head."

She tossed his braid over his shoulder. "I am sorry, Duo, that I can't be what you want. I have someone to fight for. Perhaps you don't understand because you've never had anyone you would gladly die to protect."

Duo stepped toward her and took her face in his hands. "That isn't true, Trynity. I do."

Her lashes lowered. Was she so lost and lonely that she didn't understand what he was trying to say? He leaned forward to kiss her, but Trynity suddenly moved away and turned around to look up at his gundam. "This is a rather fearsome suit," she commented.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I would want no other." Turning, he looked at the Shadowhawk. "And yours? I don't mind telling you, Miss Stryfe, that when you first attacked, I had the stuffing scared out of me."

Trynity laughed softly.

He grinned. "That isn't the laugh of the Shadowhawk pilot!"

"That was Barton's idea. He didn't think I could command respect without my voice being scrambled."

"Say, they have been working on your gundam."

Trynity frowned. "It was not damaged in the last battle."

"Do you suppose it is some type of upgrade?" Duo hated asking, but it might be invaluable tactical information. If they had upgraded it with another new weapon, he would need to know.

Trynity walked past him and strode to the gundam where a small group of technicians were conferring. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

They appeared startled, then one answered, "We are making some minor adjustments."

"By whose orders?"

"Colonel Nelson. He reviewed the last battle and determined some modifications were needed in the maneuvering system."

Duo thought Trynity was going to argue. He certainly didn't like anyone tinkering with his gundam. But she sighed and shrugged before turning back to him. "Nelson must know what he is doing. I didn't have a chance to review the last battle. I can't afford to lose any time in attacks, and I suppose I will have to trust his judgement."

"Do you use the zero system?"

She raised a brow. "I thought all gundam pilots did."

"Some of us can't handle it."

Trynity folded her arms. "Was Commander Noin flying the Valkyrie? She apparently cannot handle the zero system."

"She has learned to master it," stated Duo. Was _he _giving _her_ information? He should be watching his mouth.

"Then I will not look forward to meeting her again in combat."

"You wouldn't have to," he suggested.

Trynity was looking up at her gundam. "I don't think there is a choice." She turned, and when her eyes met his, he knew deep down that they would face each other again in their gundams. "Will you meet me on the training deck? I'll give you a chance to swing your scythe."

He tucked back a corky curl that had fallen in her face. "How can I resist that invitation?" Duo leaned forward to kiss her, and this time she raised her face to him, but a soldier interrupted them.

"Lieutenant, Colonel Nelson commands your presence and that of Duo Maxwell."

Trynity straightened, and turned to follow the man. Duo shrugged and walked behind her. As they made their way to Nelson's office, the corridors were filling with men wearing spacesuits, and Duo guessed they were getting ready for battle. That didn't leave him much time at all if the Sagitarien pilots were boarding their suits. He did notice that the men looked at Trynity with awe and respect although she didn't acknowledge them at all. She wasn't a soldier! She was a girl frightened of losing the most important person in her life. Duo just couldn't find fault with that.

Lars was standing outside Nelson's office, and when Trynity came to the door, he reached out to touch her, but Duo stepped between them. "Maxwell," he said as greeting, his hand dropping to his side.

"Nelson."

"Idiots," said Trynity just as the door opened and she walked in ahead of them.

Colonel Nelson's viewing screen was filled with graphics of his battle plan. Several other men conferred with him, and as Trynity and Lars joined in the discussion, Duo merely listened. The Cinq Kingdom fleet had already left Earth. Although they did not know where the Epyon and Valkyrie were at the time, they were sure the gundams were in one of the many mobile suit carriers. Already they confirmed that the Cinq Kingdom would be using mobile dolls, two dozen Leos and three dozen Taurus suits. Considering the strength of the Coalition, the attack would be foolhardy were it not for the Valkyrie and Epyon. Even so, Duo knew they needed the other gundams.

Nelson assigned Trynity the task of disposing of the dolls. When he suggested that Duo help, she denied needing his assistance. Duo didn't argue with her. And she didn't look at him once during the conference.

"You will leave shortly after the pilots are executed," stated Colonel Nelson. He glanced at Lars. "I hope you have not made a decision concerning the gundams. I have decided that you will continue to pilot the Artemis."

Duo could see that Lars was not pleased. Tough luck, fly boy. Maybe in the next lifetime!

But Trynity reached out to lay a comforting hand on Lars' shoulder as she faced his brother. "Do you have a reason for your decision? Lars is the best choice to fly one of the gundams."

Nelson raised his brow at Trynity. "Lieutenant, do I detect insubordination? Or is my brother simply too used to letting you fight his battles."

Good one! Duo almost laughed.

Lars glared at Colonel Nelson. "I will fly the Artemis. The suit is mine, and what it lacks in strength, I make up in skill."

"You rate yourself rather highly, brother. Then again, you always did."

You took the words out of my mouth, thought Duo.

"I rate him highly," stated Trynity.

What was she doing defending the jerk? Duo narrowed his eyes as he looked at Trynity. She was giving him the cold shoulder! First she didn't kiss him, then she refuses to fight with him, and now she was siding up with Lars Nelson. So what did she do while he was sleeping off his stupid party of one? Did her and Lars have a party of two?

"What do you think, Duo Maxwell?"

That the Artemis was going to be the first to fall under his gundam's deadly beam scythe! But he shrugged. "If we are going to meet the Cinq Kingdom troops in a matter of hours, then it is a bit late for him to learn to master a gundam."

"I have trained…" started Lars.

"Hey, I was asked my opinion, and I gave it." Duo crossed his arms and glared at him. "If you have a problem with it, we can settle it another time."

Trynity did not look at him, and after they were dismissed, she left with Lars without even a glance at him. Duo grumbled all the way to the laboratory where he found Dr. Stryfe immersed in his game.

Duo threw himself on the stool. "You better not go up those stairs," he commented. "There's an ugly one-eyed ogre wielding a spiked ball on a chain."

The older man looked at him over his shoulder. "Where is Trynity?"

"With Captain Nelson."

Dr. Stryfe chuckled as he turned back to the game. Duo wanted to ask him what he thought Trynity's feelings were, but there were more important things to discuss with Ivan Stryfe.

He leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "So, don't you think it's about time to continue your work elsewhere, Dr. Stryfe?"

Trynity's father did not take his eyes from the screen. "What did you have in mind, young man?"

After leaving the laboratory, Duo went to the infirmary where he requested some painkillers for his headache. The medical officer gave him a few pills, then advised him not to take more than one at a time or he would be in no shape to pilot his gundam in the upcoming battle. Duo pocketed the pills after popping one in his mouth, then made his way to the training deck. He didn't expect Trynity to be there, but she was sitting on the floor. Beside her were two glasses of champagne.

When he stood over her, she looked up and smiled at him. "You took your time. I thought I was going to have to drink with Lars."

Duo realized she was joking, and he forced himself to laugh, but it wasn't all that funny to him! He dropped to his knees beside her, and they both picked up the glasses. "Here's to the battle!" He touched his glass to hers, then took a sip. "It's warm. There must be some chilled over here somewhere." Duo had to force his hand not to shake as he took her glass before she could drink. He spied the bottle in a bucket of ice, and he walked to it.

"Where were you?" she asked when he turned his back on him.

Duo's fingers were stiff and cold as he snapped open two of the capsules the doctor had given him. He poured the granules in Trynity's glass and filled it with champagne. "I was working with your father."

"I really can't imagine what the two of you do," she commented with a laugh.

Duo returned with the refilled glasses. Before he handed hers over, he said, "I don't want to drink to the battle, Trynity, unless we both feel that we are following our conscience."

She sighed and reached out to take a glass from his hand. "I will do what I must, Duo." Trynity sipped from the champagne. 

"People die in battle," he said quietly.

"People die crossing the street." She drank more of the champagne. "They aren't expecting it. Those that get in a mobile suit, or a gundam, have to expect to die. That is the fate of all soldiers."

Duo wanted to take the glass from her and shake some sense into her. But he suspected it would do no good. This was the result of her brainwashing by Dekim Barton. According to her father, that man had taken a lonely, needy child and molded her into an extension of the Shadowhawk. Dr. Stryfe feared his daughter would never overcome it. Lars Nelson had never been willing to give up his soul to the Shadowhawk, and that was why he had never been allowed to pilot it. Trynity had lost her soul without knowing.

She finished the champagne and set aside the empty glass. Her green eyes met his. Duo threw aside his glass and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her until she began to feel faint in his arms and he felt like a villain lying down with her pressed close to him. 

Her eyes were closed. "Are you all right, Trynity?" he asked as he brushed the curls from her face.

She smiled sleepily. "I am a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night." She kissed his kissed his lips then added, "And I didn't get much of a nap today."

Duo stroked her cheek. "Rest. You will need it."

"Just hold me," she whispered groggily, then she sighed and became limp.

For a moment he did as she asked, then he carefully moved away after gently laying her head on the floor. Duo went to the weapons on the wall, forcing himself not to look back at her, and taking the scythe, he walked out the door. He quickly knocked out his guards who weren't expecting him. Although he wanted to swing the scythe for dramatic effect as he made his way through the corridors, Duo realized the old fashioned blade didn't cut nearly as well as the beam variety. So he snatched his guards' guns and made his way to the detention center, avoiding as many men as he could. Those who did question him received a few smart-ass answers and a club over the back of the head.

He made short work of the guards at the door to the cell holding his friends, then walked in. "The god of death has arrived."

"Are you planning to shoot us?" asked Wufei with raised brows as he looked at the gun in his hand.

"Is it midnight already?" shrieked Quatre. "Duo, are you the one who is to execute us?"

Duo pointed the gun at him. "You are first, Quatre Raberba Winner!" He paused for a second, then shouted, "Bang!"

Quatre dropped back in a faint.

"Smooth move," commented Trowa. "Who is going to carry him?"

"Let's leave him," suggested Heero.

"We can't," stated Duo. "If we leave him, they will use his gundam."

"I'll carry him, I guess." Trowa reached down to pull Quatre over his shoulder.

"Now that that is taken care of," said Wufei, "who is going to take care of Lieutenant Stryfe?"

"I already did that," said Duo. "Lieutenant Stryfe is as harmless as a newborn kitten."

"Even newborn kittens have claws."

Duo spun around to see Trynity in the doorway, a gun in her hand. "Hey! How…"

"Drop the gun, Duo Maxwell."

By the deadly look in her eyes, he knew he had better comply. The gun clattered to the floor. "So, how did you do it? I put enough drugs in your drink to make you sleep through the battle."

"I didn't drink it, you oaf! You were so distracted and nervous that I took the drink you didn't doctor."

Duo frowned and scratched his head. He hadn't noticed at all. "Good thing I didn't drink mine!"

Trynity made a sound of disgust. "I have no clue what I ever saw in you!"

"Believe me, Miss Stryfe, the feeling is mutual."

"Come with me." She reached down to get the gun Duo had, then motioned them out. Quatre regained consciousness, so Trowa dumped him on the floor, and Trynity snarled at him to get moving. "Any one of you attempts to make an escape – listen well Heero Yuy – I will put a rather large hole in the back of your head."

Duo was seething with anger as she herded them through the corridors. They had been so close! "Trynity, listen to me! You can't do this!"

"Shut up, Maxwell. You had no intention of ever fighting for the Coalition!"

"What would ever induce me to do that?"

They entered the gundam hanger, which was a beehive of activity as the technicians made last minutes preparations and the young pilots who had been chosen to fly them reviewed the systems. 

"You aren't going to kill us in front of our gundams are you?" asked Quatre nervously. 

Trynity sneered at him. "I think Sandrock will eventually recover."

Duo laughed.

She spun to aim the gun straight at Duo. "Meeting Hilde on the beach with a blanket? Time to pay up, Duo Maxwell!" He caught his breath. "Bang!"

Duo stumbled back.

Wufei snorted with uncharacteristic laughter. 

Duo looked down and saw that he wasn't shot, then looked at Trynity. "Miss Stryfe!"

She put the gun in his hand, then handed another to Heero. "There isn't much time. There will be guards here any moment when they go to the cell and find you guys missing."

Duo wanted to pull her into his arms and give her a kiss she would never forget, but they still had to battle for their gundams. So after one last look, he joined Heero in clearing out the hanger. When the bullets starting flying, the pilots and technicians scattered. Trowa, Quatre and Wufei managed to knock out a few, but at least two escaped to sound the alarm. When there was no opposition, they scrambled to get into spacesuits, and Duo saw that Trynity was waiting near her own gundam.

They joined her there.

Trynity looked at each of them, and in turn they silently gave their approval. Duo knew how much she believed she was sacrificing in allowing them to escape. He took her hands. "You are coming with us, Trynity."

She shook her head. "I can't."

"I won't leave without you."

Trynity smiled and reach out to touch his cheek. "Then I guess I have no choice."

Duo was not the only one to sigh with relief. The others left to go to their gundams, but he stayed to take her into his arms. For a moment, they said nothing as they held each other. He should never have doubted Trynity. When she raised her head to look at him, he took her face in his hands and he was remembering a starry night and moonlight shimmering on water. 

"I love you, Miss Stryfe."

There were tears in her eyes, and he had to blink back his own. "You have to go, Duo."

He released her, then reached into his pocket. "I have something for you, Trynity."

Her hand trembled as she reached out to take the necklace he had given her the night of the Stardust Ball. She held it to her heart.

She didn't have to tell him how she felt.

He could see it in her eyes. 

"I will see you in space." He kissed her forehead, turned and then headed to his gundam.

Trynity watched him go, but she did not move until the cable had taken him to the cockpit of the Deathscythe. She turned and saw Wufei waiting at the foot of the Shadowhawk. "You had better go."

"You aren't coming," he stated.

She shook her head. "I can't leave my father."

"When they realize you helped us escape, they will likely kill you."

Trynity already knew that.

He came close to her. "I can't allow that to happen." Wufei smiled at her. "I believe I shall enjoy this immensely." 

Trynity didn't even see the blow coming before darkness claimed her.


	27. A noble sacrifice on the field of battle

****

Cinq Kingdom Fleet

"Commander Noin, there is a message from His Excellency's carrier."

Noin looked up from the plans she was studying with Sally Po. Although she did not appreciate the distraction, her heart gave a little jump. She hadn't seen or heard from Miliardo in three days, but she was very much aware of his activities. The strong wave of criticism leveled at him by his opponents in the Cinq Kingdom Assembly was widely reported. Even if they did triumph against the Coalition, she highly doubted he would return to rule the kingdom he had worked so hard to protect. The hard-liners in the Assembly had demanded to work out a peaceful solution with the Coalition. Unfortunately their accusation that the first instinct of the man once known as Zechs Merquise would always be to fight hit the mark. Miliardo would consider no other option beside that which was contrary to his Peacecraft heritage. Noin wished he had remained on Earth in relative safety while he allowed her to do her duty to protect him and the kingdom, but there was no stopping the lightening count.

Sally glanced at her. "You had better take the message."

Noin flipped on the telecom to see Miliardo's face. He seemed impatient "What did you need?" she asked.

"Hardly the greeting I was expecting." His face relaxed and flashed her smile that melted her insides. "I can be there in five minutes."

"You shouldn't. The Coalition doesn't know where the Epyon and Valkyrie are. We need the element of surprise." She wouldn't be able to bear parting with him again. Especially not now when the future seemed so bleak for them all. Advanced intelligence reports indicated that the Coalition had three times their number in mobile dolls, Taurus suits and their infamous weapons the Sagitariens. Reviewing the reports with her officers, Noin was also afraid the cloak thrown over the Coalition fleet would give them advantage needed to destroy what remained of the Cinq Kingdom forces. Without the other gundams, there were most likely doomed to defeat.

"I shouldn't, but I am going to be there in four minutes and thirty seconds." Miliardo's face disappeared from the screen.

Sally laughed when Noin frowned and said, "I don't think there is any way of saying no to that man."

An alarm sounded and Noin turned to consult the radar map on the large screen behind them. "Howard, do you see something?" she asked the man running a computer scan on space using the special scope they had devised to penetrate the cloaking field.

"It's too early to tell. Could be an advance guard or a few cocky pilots."

"That would be a foolish tactical error," commented Noin. "They would give away the position of the Sagitariens."

"I don't think it is the Coalition at all," said Sally. "Howard, switch to front visual. I am reading a large amount of energy."

Noin held her breath, fearing the worst, especially with Miliardo approaching in the Epyon. He wouldn't be expecting an attack on the command ship this soon. Although Howard had done everything he could to protect the Epyon from the powerful effect of the Shadowhawk's arrows, she feared that the clever Trynity Stryfe would have other tricks up her sleeve. The Shadowhawk could be right outside waiting in cloaked invisibility. Miliardo would never see what hit him.

But as the viewing screen switched to the front of the spaceship, she realized with a gasp that she was mistaken. Huge bat-like wings unfolded before them, and she was greatly relieved to hear Duo Maxwell's voice.

"Hey, you guys open up. I have a package to deliver."

"If it isn't the head of the nasty little pilot of the Shadowhawk, then forget it."

Duo laughed. "No, it isn't her. She should be following though."

"Following!" Noin was alarmed.

"Don't get in a snit, Noin. She's on our side now."

He sounded confident.

"Wing Zero, Sandrock, Heavyarms and Altron are approaching," stated Sally.

Noin could barely believe what she was hearing. "I don't know how you did it, Duo!"

"How could you doubt the god of death? Now open up for my package."

Noin left the control deck to accompany Howard to the bay where Duo left his 'package', a person, before blasting away to await the Coalition's attack. At the same time, the Epyon landed and entered the bay along with a Cinq Kingdom Taurus, and Miliardo exited the gundam with his ever-present aide following from his own. When the doors were closed and they were able to remove their space helmets, Miliardo went first to help Duo's passenger with his helmet. Noin was surprised to see bright orange and red hair appear, and when the person turned, she was relieved to see that it wasn't Trynity, but an older man.

"Stryfe!" Howard strode forward and slapped the other man on the back before shaking his hand. "You old fox!"

"I'm not that old," grumbled Ivan Stryfe. He turned to Miliardo. "I have several topics I want to discuss with you, Prince Miliardo Peacecraft. Not the least of which is the fact that my sweet, innocent little girl was thrown in with a wild bunch of boys. I expected a little better when I chose you as guardian for my daughter."

"Sweet, innocent girl!" exploded Noin as she stepped forward. "That devil-child almost killed me!"

Dr. Stryfe turned to look at her. "Ah, you must be Commander Noin!" He shook her hand as if his daughter hadn't held a gun to her head, blew apart her Aries suit and knocked he to Earth in the Epyon. "I am very pleased to have the opportunity to meet you! Anyone who can survive my Trynity when she is determined is truly leading a charmed life."

If Miliardo hadn't put his arm around her shoulders, she might have popped the older man in the nose. "We are glad that you are safe, Dr. Stryfe."

"Now that I am, my daughter will have no reason to remain with Nelson. That man is insane. Unfortunately he attracts not only his kind but also those who are unhappy with the peace you try to maintain. Prolonged wars such as we have seen these many years breed those who are addicted to the thrill of the battle." As he sighed tiredly, Noin didn't look at Miliardo. Was he one of those men? "I only wish," continued the scientist, "that I could have spoken to Trynity before I left, but there was no time or opportunity. She probably would have talked me out to attempting to escape out of fear for my safety. With the preparations for battle going on, it was actually quite easy to slip out. Young Maxwell suggested tucking me under the wing of his gundam. Quite ingenious. We both thought it would be better if Trynity didn't know until I was safely aboard. Now I am eager to contact her."

"Let's get to the control deck." Howard put his arm around Stryfe's shoulders. "Now, old man, you must tell me about that cloak. How can we read it? What should we search for?"

"I'm not an old man," Noin heard Dr. Stryfe grumble again as they walked out. "And since someone stole my preliminary research and incorporated it on the Deathscythe, you must have some knowledge."

Noin watched as they disappeared, then turned just as Miliardo took her arm and pulled her to him. "You shouldn't have come over here," she scolded him.

"Shut up and kiss me. That is a direct order from your commander and chief."

She sighed and put her arms around his neck to pull his head down to hers. No, he shouldn't have come over to the command ship that carried the Valkyrie, but she wouldn't give up this for any amount of common sense. Their odds for success had increased dramatically with the inclusion of the gundams in their ranks, but as a military commander, Noin knew anything could happen to turn the tide of battle. For a few moments she could forget their danger in his arms.

A throat cleared, and Miliardo raised his head from their kiss to look at Benton who had accompanied him. Noin frowned at Benton. What was he doing interrupting their private moment? Annoyed, she pushed back from Miliardo and went to the console in the hangar to view the empty space that would soon fill with mobile suits. As she searched the scope hoping to see the enemy, Benton left them alone. There was nothing and she suspected they wouldn't see the Coalition until they were on top of them thanks to Dr. Ivan Stryfe. At least his daughter and her nasty gundam would be on their side! Noin hoped she could keep herself from taking a few swipes at the little witch. Perhaps when the fighting was over…

Miliardo slid onto the seat beside her. "Do you see anything?"

"No. We should be entering what they consider their territory in a few minutes. I suppose we should be getting ready to fight." Noin stared at the empty screen for a moment, then looked at Miliardo. The words to tell him how much she loved him seemed so inadequate. She could not describe her feelings in the few short minutes before she would have to get into the Valkyrie to face an uncertain future. They might never be together again. Instead she said, "I would give my life for you, Miliardo."

He smiled and took her hand in his. "As you have tried to do so many times, Lucrezia, I am beginning to think that is your mission in life. I have something better in mind." The door opened and Benton re-entered the hanger, this time with Sally Po. "Sally," said Miliardo without taking his eyes from Noin's face. She couldn't take her gaze from his intense blue gaze. "Are you captain of this ship?"

Sally laughed. "You know that I am, Your Excellency."

Still looking at Noin, Miliardo reached out to press a few buttons on the console. "I think we have the requisite number of witnesses."

"What are you talking about?" Noin glanced at Sally and Benton. They were both grinning foolishly.

"Lucrezia, I am not worthy of the loyalty you have given me. Without you, I would not be where I am today." He brought her fingers to his lips and she felt warm inside as he kissed them. Then he unfastened and reached inside his spacesuit, searched about for a bit, then frowned. He looked over his shoulder at Benton.

With a chuckle, the younger man stepped forward. "Allow me, Your Excellency."

Noin was stunned to see Benton hand Miliardo a ring that looked very familiar. "What would I do without you, Colonel Benton?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't try," Benton replied with a wink at Noin before he stepped back.

She watched with wide eyes as Miliardo slipped the ring on her finger. "Lucrezia Noin, I love you. I have loved you so long and so deeply that you have become a part of me. I regret that I have taken you for granted, and from this day forth, my life belongs to you, my Valkyrie. If you would consent to marry me, Sally Po, as captain of this vessel, has the authority to validate our marriage here and now."

Noin was struck speechless. Her eyes went to the ring, and tears stung her eyes as she stared at the two crossed lightening bolts. The ring fit her perfectly but was otherwise the same as the ring she had foolishly thrown away the night of the Stardust Ball. How could she have ever doubted his feelings? Noin had always known deep inside that he loved her, but to hear him say it was a dream from which she did not wish to awaken.

Unfortunately, she was awakened from her dream when Howard's voice came over the telecom. "Commander Noin, we are detecting irregular energy fluctuations. Stryfe tells me it is the Coalition fleet approaching."

She turned from Miliardo to give her attention to Howard. "Have you made contact with the Shadowhawk?"

Miliardo reached around her to flip off the communication to Howard. "You haven't given me an answer."

Noin frowned at him. "Now is not the time, Miliardo." She wanted it to be, but there was a battle to fight. Why did he have to choose these completely inappropriate times to be prince charming?

Miliardo seized her elbows to prevent her from walking away from him. "The only thing that is important here, Lucrezia, is you and me. If tomorrow the Cinq Kingdom slips from my fingers for good, I won't care as long as you are at my side for the rest of our lives."

Warning signals sounded to indicate that the enemy had been detected, and Noin turned to Sally who gave her an encouraging smile. Benton stepped forward, took her hand, and in it he placed the ring she had disposed of in the conservatory pond. She looked at the young man's face.

He smiled at her. "Admit it, commander, that you, too, would be lost without me."

Noin smiled at him, then looked back at Miliardo. This was destined to happen. "I imagined that marrying the prince of the Cinq Kingdom would be a bit grander than this," she commented as she took his hand and slid the ring on his finger."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Lucrezia."

"You could never disappoint me, Miliardo."

Sally laughed and put her hands on their shoulders. "I suppose this is the part where I declare you, Miliardo Peacecraft and Lucrezia Noin, husband and wife."

"Not a moment too soon!" Miliardo released Noin's hands and stood. Grabbing his helmet he headed toward the Epyon. "Let's go, Colonel Benton."

Noin jumped to her feet. "What about my kiss?"

He waved to her without looking back. "Later, woman! We have a war to win."

She put her hands on her hips, then looked at Benton. He grinned, then turned on his heel and headed to his own mobile suit.

"You had better go," said Sally.

"You are right." Noin dashed across the hangar and reached Miliardo just as he took the cable that would carrying him up to the Epyon cockpit. "You are not getting away that easy, loverboy," she said in her sexiest Roxy Rivera voice. She jumped up and threw her arms around his neck, and she kissed him for a moment as the cable began to ascend. At the last possible moment, she released her hands from behind his neck, then dropped several feet back to the ground.

Their eyes locked until he disappeared into the Epyon. Then she headed to the Valkyrie.

"Howard, I'm not getting any readings on the Shadowhawk." Duo double-checked the scope for any sign of Trynity's gundam. Two mobile dolls appeared before him, preparing to aim beam rifles, but Duo easily took care of them with a swipe of the scythe. He looked out over the battle, desperately hoping to find Trynity, but the Shadowhawk was not among the first wave of Coalition forces. Nor was the Artemis.

"She is not on our radar either," It was Dr. Stryfe's voice. "I have modified the sweep to find her even if she is cloaked. She's not in space yet. She must be back at the base."

Duo couldn't believe Trynity would stay behind! Was she going to do something foolish at the base? Was she staying back with Lars Nelson? In his anger and frustration, Duo knocked out a Sagitarien and was not even gratified to see it explode and destroy another mobile doll. He swung his scythe blindly and almost hit a Cinq Kingdom Taurus suit.

"Knock it off, Maxwell!" snarled Heero Yuy. "Or I will have to consider you a hostile threat."

Getting a grip, Duo turned back to fighting the Sagitariens. He hated to admit that the suits were of superior design to the Taurus suits, and that Lars Nelson had trained his pilots well. Then again, Noin had trained Nelson, and he, in turn, had trained Trynity to fight the Deathscythe to a standstill. The crossbolts from the Sagitariens jolted his gundam now each time they hit; yet they caused no significant damage. They were like mosquitoes against the superior armor of the gundams. Duo saw the Epyon dart through a line of them, taking them out with his charged heat rod as the Valkyrie slashed through mobile dolls. Although Dorothy did a commendable job controlling the Cinq Kingdom dolls, the Sagitariens easily took them down. In the end, Duo knew they would prevail. Nelson didn't have gundams on his side. He had not a single one he could rely on.

As he had that last thought, he saw a flash of light streak from nowhere, and Quatre raised Sandrock's shield just in time to take the arrow shot from nowhere. Suddenly the Artemis appeared uncloaked, and soaring past it towards the mobile dolls was the Shadowhawk. Duo watched with stunned inaction as Trynity's gundam smashed at the dolls controlled by Dorothy with the double-edged saber.

"Trynity!" He tried to contact her, but there was no response. He contacted the command ship. "Howard, can you reach the Shadowhawk? Trynity is not responding to my calls!" She continued to hack away at the mobile dolls and blowing them to bits. The heaven's tears scattered in space like thistle seeds in the wind, then honed in on the unmanned weapons, rendering them into space debris.

"I can't reach her," Howard finally responded to Duo. "Her communicator is either disabled or switched off."

And Trynity was following the battle plan agreed upon in Nelson's office. Duo felt betrayed, and yet he wouldn't be able to stand it if something happened to her. None of the other gundams attacked her as she methodically eliminated the dolls. Heavyarms was busy strafing Leo suits while Wufei and Heero continued to battle the Sagitariens. In the distance, Duo could see the Epyon flying toward the Coalition base, flaying any opposition with his beam saber and heat rod. 

"Attack the Shadowhawk!" Duo heard Noin order.

"No!" He couldn't believe Trynity wasn't on their side! The Shadowhawk was leaving the destruction it had wrought on the mobile dolls. Duo saw a Taurus suit charging to intercept, and when he realized it was Hilde, he boosted Deathscythe forward. Trynity spun her double beam saber, creating that fantastic array of color, but when she tried to use it on the Taurus; Duo shot it with his vulcan guns. The staff flew from the hand of the gundam, spinning out into space. Without so much as a pause, she spun, and pulled her bow, nocked it and sent the energy charged shaft flying towards the Taurus. Knowing it would kill Hilde, Duo snapped in the wings of the Deathscythe and flew between the Taurus suit and the arrow. The blow jolted his gundam, and energy crackled all around him. Duo even felt his hair standing on end, but despite the surge in levels, the Deathscythe had withstood the arrow. He knew damn well it wouldn't take another hit like that.

"Hilde, get out of here!" he shouted.

"I want to fight that bitch!"

"You are no match for her!" Too bad guys needed women, thought Duo, because they were too emotional, jealous and vindictive.

Turning his gundam back towards the Shadowhawk, he saw the Artemis dart towards Trynity's gundam, passing off the double beam saber she had lost. That jerk! Even in battle, Nelson couldn't stay away from her! "Time to meet your maker, Lars Nelson."

Duo left Hilde to fend for herself as he chased after the Artemis. Nelson slashed at the Cinq Kingdom forces with his beam saber as he sped away, then when the battlefield had been left behind; he stopped and spun to meet him. In one hand he held a shield, and in the other the beam saber, glowing bright and deadly. Regardless of the vulnerability of his own protection, Duo charged the beam on the scythe with one thing on his mind, and he boosted forward. Nelson deflected his first blow with the shield, and Duo read on his scanner that the shield was constructed of gundanium. The body of the Artemis was titanium, however, so Duo was confident that with the right, well placed hit, Lars Nelson would be history. He swung the scythe, but the Artemis ducked it and pounded down hard with the beam saber. Duo felt the hit down to his toes. The bastard was better than Duo had thought. Maybe he could have piloted a gundam.

"Heero, get the Shadowhawk now!" he heard Noin order.

Duo took his eyes from the Artemis to search his viewer for the Wing gundam and saw it racing toward the Shadowhawk which was attacking a Taurus and oblivious to the danger. Heero pulled to a stop behind it and pulled out his double beam rifle. Something streaked by Duo, and he realized Nelson had let loose an arrow that flew straight and true to blast the deadly gun from the hands of the Wing zero gundam just as it began to fire. As the blast from the gun destroyed Cinq Kingdom and Coalition mobile suits alike as it careened out of control, Duo didn't know whether to thank Nelson for saving Trynity or continue beating on him.

The decision was taken from him when Deathscythe warned him of the approach of an enemy. Turning, he saw the Shadowhawk soar over him, then swing around to fire an arrow straight at him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Nelson charging for an attack with his beam saber raised high. Duo gritted his teeth. He was going to meet his own maker.

The space around her became bright light as the arrow buried itself and exploded. Trynity stared at the light until she couldn't stand it anymore, then turned her head away with a sob. Her heart was pounding frantically, and with each gasped breath she took, she felt the scythe charm warm against her skin. Duo couldn't be dead! He couldn't! Why had she fired at him? Was protecting her father worth his life? Why was she fighting at all? Who was controlling her? When had she lost the ability to think for herself, to control her own destiny?

Trynity frantically punched at the buttons on her communicator, but none responded. Her communications system was dead! She pounded at the panel with her fists. "Duo!" Tears began to roll down her cheeks, and as the light subsided from the blast, she raised her head to view the destruction her attack had caused. She expected to see the damaged Deathscythe drifting dark and lifeless, but as the debris cleared, she was horrified to see the Artemis floating, a detached arm caught in the wing of the Deathscythe, a dismembered leg sailing past her. The cockpit door was hanging open, and she could see Lars slumped forward. She had shot his mobile suit instead of the Deathscythe!

"Lars!" She tried again to reawaken her communications, and she was relieved when the screen suddenly activated. "Lars, are you all right?"

But Colonel Nelson's face appeared on the screen. "Lieutenant Stryfe, you have done a commendable job. I am promoting you to captain. I need you back here now. The base is under attack and you have proven yourself capable of defending it."

"But Lars needs my help," she protested. The Deathscythe had not moved, and she wondered if Duo had been injured in the blast that had torn apart the Artemis. His gundam did not appear to have taken any damage.

"Lars doesn't need your help." Colonel Nelson smiled, and the sight churned her stomach. "I have already send a command to the remaining mobile dolls to recognize him as an enemy."

"He is not an enemy!" Trynity clenched her fists impotently.

"He saved the enemy from destruction. That makes him an enemy." Nelson's face disappeared from the scene momentarily to be replaced by what Trynity realized was a replay of the battle. She watched with horror as she fired the arrow, then the Artemis flew in front of the Deathscythe, turned and put up its shield in an attempt to deflect the shot. The rest was obscured by the blast. Tears pricked at her eyes as she realized how noble a sacrifice Lars had made for her.

"Now get back here to protect the base or your father will be the first to die."

His face disappeared, and Trynity sat unmoving as she viewed the scene in space. Another wave of Coalition mobile dolls was approaching, and she knew Lars would be doomed. She couldn't let that happen! Drawing the double beam saber, she swooped forward to hack at the approaching mobile suits. Behind her, the Deathscythe had awakened and joined her attack. She fought furiously to protect her injured friend. The Sagitariens were attacker her now also, but for the first time, she had a clear view of what was right and wrong. It was wrong to protect her father to the exclusion of others! It was wrong to ignore her conscience! And she did still have a conscience despite the attempt of her trainers from the Barton Foundation to drive it out of her. Trynity wasn't part of the Shadowhawk. It was a machine that followed her commands. And now she would use it to do what was right.

The Valkyrie flew past in the direction of the Coalition base. Trynity could have stopped it, but she watched it go as she blasted Sagitariens and Coalition Taurus suits. Enough innocent people had died because of her!

Colonel Nelson's face appeared on her screen, and even as he glared silently at her, she continued to swing her saber and blast the Coalition forces. "Unfortunately, Captain Stryfe, you have proved my suspicions correct."

Trynity shot two arrows that disabled several Taurus suits. "What are you talking about?"

"You cannot be trusted."

She paused to survey the battle and noted that the Coalition forces had dwindled dramatically. The gundams were cleaning up, and she knew the Cinq Kingdom had won the battle. So Trynity turned her attention to Nelson who was still staring at her with his eerie black eyes. "You have lost."

"Perhaps I have, Trynity Stryfe, but I will have one last victory and you will achieve it for me."

"I am done fighting for you!"

"My dear, you are going to destroy the gundams for me."

"You are insane! I have no intention of helping you."

Nelson threw back his head in laughter, then settled to a smile, as he looked her in the eye. "I have control of your gundam's self-destruct mechanism, Captain Stryfe. When I activate it, you will have ten seconds to reflect upon the foolish choices you have made before the blast of your exploding gundam destroys the others."

"You're lying!" But Trynity knew he wasn't, and she knew that their communication was monitored because the Cinq Kingdom forces began a hasty retreat.

"Don't rely on your father's little self-protection mechanism. I took the liberty of having it disabled although it took a dozen experts to figure out his security codes. You and the Shadowhawk are the ultimate weapon, and with you both I will defeat the gundams." He gave her one last grim smile before his face disappeared and an alarm sounded in the Shadowhawk.

Trynity double-checked her spacesuit and pressed buttons to release the hatch for the cockpit, but the door remained closed. She didn't bother trying to open it manually. Nelson had devised the ultimate revenge against her and the Cinq Kingdom.

She fell back against her seat and listened to the whining sirens and glanced at the countdown to destruction before looking out at space to see the gundams retreating rapidly. The Wing zero had attempted to stop the Deathscythe from returning to her as Sandrock hauled away what remained of the Artemis. She wished Duo would get to a safe distance. The blast would kill him as well as her. But the Deathscythe came to her, and although he couldn't communicate with her, the gundam reached out its arms. Trynity had little control of her gundam, so she could not respond, but she could try one last thing so that her death would not be in vain. She punched a few buttons, then sighed with relief as the bow detached from the gundam. There was only one arrow left.

Duo paused only a moment before blasting away to catch the bow and head toward the coalition base.

The countdown had reached three seconds when she suddenly saw the horrifying sight of the monstrous dragon fang of Altron gundam flying towards her viewing screen. As the deafening sound of crunching metal filled her ears, the Shadowhawk began to glow. Trynity felt herself lifted as her gundam began to explode.

There were explosions everywhere in the abandoned colony Lionel Nelson had chosen as his headquarters. Miliardo had left the Epyon outside the former military headquarters. Although men wearing Coalition uniforms fled, they paid no attention to him as he calmly walked through the wreckage. There were like rats fleeing a sinking ship, and Miliardo had every intention of disposing of the king rat himself.

He found Nelson standing on an observation deck staring at what remained of the battle. For a moment, Miliardo had to look away as a bright light made his pupils painfully dilate. When he turned back, Nelson was facing him, a gun pointed directly at him.

"Zechs Merquise. So good of you to join me in my moment of triumph."

Miliardo looked past him to the screen. The space was filled with debris. How did Nelson see any victory in that sad sight? Miliardo could make out the drifting form of the Altron gundam amongst the debris, one of its long claws extending, detached from the body and drifting. He hoped Chang Wufei was not injured in the explosion although he could not see how he could have been protected. The Shadowhawk had been blown to bits, and Miliardo could see that much of the Cinq Kingdom fleet was damaged.

"The Shadowhawk was an excellent gundam, and Trynity Stryfe was a most useful tool."

Miliardo looked back at Nelson. "Why? Why did you betray the trust I placed in you? What have you gained by this!" He swept out his hand to indicate the mess in space.

"What have I gained? A little bit of this, a little bit of that, my dear Zechs Merquise." Nelson snorted with laughter. "Where do I start? I grew tired of taking your orders. I could have had a brilliant career in OZ on my own, but I chose to follow Noin. She never once turned around to look at me." Nelson laughed to himself and Miliardo wondered if he would be able to draw his own gun in this moment of insanity. "Did she ever tell you that we were involved?"

"She mentioned it." Miliardo didn't really want to hear about their relationship.

"I was amused by her at first, but as I grew to know her better, I found that I intensely disliked her."

Miliardo could think of a number of reasons why.

Nelson decided to expound on the subject. "Her habits are deplorable, and I found her demanding and pushy."

"I hadn't noticed." A little lie wouldn't hurt.

Nelson snorted. "Oh, you will notice! That bitch will get on your nerves too!"

Miliardo pulled his gun and fired, but Nelson dived out of the way. "This can't be about Noin."

A bullet whizzed past his ear. Miliardo aimed in the direction from which it had been fired and pulled the trigger of his gun. The bullet ricocheted harmlessly.

"Why would this be about her?" asked Nelson with a laugh. "She is merely a player. Oh, I admit that I wanted her back, but I knew I would never get her, and if I did, I would eventually have to kill her." Nelson shot at him again and Miliardo ducked behind the desk as he fired. He saw Nelson scurry toward the door and he fired a few more bullets that missed him by scant inches. Noin was a much better shot. If she were here…

"So what is it Nelson? What are you gaining?"

"I followed you because I craved the excitement that flowed from your wake. First OZ, then the White Fang, then the counterattack against the Barton Foundation. I was there too, a member of the Preventors, fighting alongside you and Noin. But then you chose to take the reigns of government from your pathetic sister! You chose to rule an insignificant kingdom when you could have used your power to have so much more. I watched with despair as you let a bunch of old men in a decaying kingdom dictate to you. And when I realized you finally noticed the delightful Lucrezia Noin creeping around in your shadows, I knew something had to be done to bring back the Zechs Merquise worthy of legend before you settled down to make your nest with her."

"I don't believe you!" There was more. There had to be more. He saw Nelson's head and fired a few more rounds until his gun clicked empty.

Nelson stood with a pleased smile on his lips. "Too bad, Lightening Count. You are out of ammunition. Noin would have killed me with the first bullet." Nelson was aiming his gun at him.

Miliardo stood. "Now what?"

"Now I will kill you. Consider it a blessing that you do not have to live to see yourself completely domesticated. There are certain members of the Cinq Kingdom Assembly who will be rewarding me significantly for your removal."

Betrayed by his own countrymen. Miliardo was sick with disgust.

Nelson smiled smugly. "Did you think they would accept Zechs Merquise as their king? Did you think the World and Space Federation would allow you to cast off their yoke? Vice Minister Une contacted me, offering me an enviable position in the Federation to cut short your little rebellion against the rule of the Federation."

"You would sell me out for that? You had almost as much power as I." Miliardo had to keep the king rat talking. Where the hell was Noin?

"Yet I am still answerable to you. Even if you do return to Earth triumphant, I am content to know that you will lose your peaceful little kingdom. The Assembly will toss you out in favor of your sister and then beg the Federation to accept it back."

The room shook as an explosion rocked the colony. Miliardo turned to look at the viewing screen and saw that two of the gundams were attacking the colony as well as a contingent of Taurus suits. Sagitariens tried to defend but were no match for the deadly Wing zero and Heavyarms gundams.

Nelson was shaking with rage. "How…how did they survive?"

Miliardo took a step toward him, but Nelson aimed the gun at his chest.

"Goodbye, Zechs Merquise!"

The door suddenly opened and Miliardo watched as Noin stepped in, raised her gun and fired at Nelson. His own gun did have a chance to fire before it clattered harmlessly to the floor and he clutched his bleeding shoulder.

"I don't creep around in shadows," she declared. Miliardo saw that she was wearing a headset and had probably heard the entire conversation from his own open communication line. She had most likely issued the orders to the gundams to attack the base.

Nelson staggered to his desk. "You will regret this, Lucrezia. I have no intention of taking you back now, no matter how much you beg."

Miliardo saw Noin smile. "I am sorry to hear that. I guess I will just have to make do with Miliardo Peacecraft." She motioned to him with the gun, and Miliardo moved to stand behind her. "Thank you for allowing me to rescue you," she said, then added, "for once."

"We will tell our children about it some day," he remarked with a smile.

Noin turned to look at Nelson and her eyes suddenly widened. Miliardo spun, expecting Nelson to be aiming a cannon at them. But in the observation window, he saw the Deathscythe gundam, wings outspread, wielding the bow of the Shadowhawk, a glowing arrow already nocked and ready to fire directly into the heart of the Coalition base.

"Hold it Duo!" she shouted into her headset. "Give us two minutes." She hoped Duo was in the frame of mind to obey the order. She looked at Nelson who had turned to stare incredulously up at the glowing eyes of the gundam filling his window, the arrow pulsing with leashed power. "Your little plan was doomed to failure and has cost the lives of innocent people. As for using the Shadowhawk as the ultimate killing device, Dr. Stryfe was able to devise a shield to absorb most of the blast or you might have killed thousands. I never really liked you, Lionel. When I got past your façade, I realized that you were too meticulous, too arrogant, too conceited, and too judgmental. Did I forget to mention how stupid you are?"

Noin grabbed Miliardo's arm and pulled him out of the room, shutting the door behind, then grabbing her space helmet, she kicked Miliardo's at him from where he had left it on the floor in the hall outside the office. After he grabbed it, she took his arm, and as they raced away, they could hear Nelson's insane laughter. They had little time to reach the Valkyrie and Epyon, which were waiting side by side outside the Coalition headquarters building. Noin released Miliardo and started to pull on her helmet, but he caught her arm.

"Should I be worried?" he asked.

She raised her brows in silent question.

He shrugged. "Well, you think I am meticulous, arrogant and conceited," he pointed out with a smile, "not to mention judgmental."

Noin laughed. "Today not withstanding, just don't do anything stupid."

Miliardo threw back his head in laughter as he grabbed the cable to his gundam. "I'll try to live up to your lofty expectations."

"Don't bother! I've been creeping around in your shadow, nipping at your heels and licking your boots so long that I have absolutely no expectations for you anymore."

There was no more time for banter as they had only precious moments before Duo would fire on the base. As they blasted away from the coalition, Miliardo turned the viewer to watch as Deathscythe released the arrow, which would obliterate the Coalition. The blinding light closed the past, and Miliardo raced the Epyon after the Valkyrie, into his future.


	28. Welcome home

****

New Port City, Cinq Kingdom

The first thing Trynity saw when she opened her eyes, was her father's beloved face, and she was surprised to see tears in his eyes. She didn't know where she was, couldn't feel anything although she was aware that she was lying in a bed. She tried to sit up, but she could barely lift her head.

"Lie still, pumpkin," said Dr. Stryfe as he gently laid his hand on her cheek.

"Where…where am I?"

"Peacecraft Memorial Hospital," he told her as he brushed back her hair.

"I'm not dead," she remarked.

Her father chuckled and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "No, pumpkin, you are not dead."

"Shadowhawk is destroyed."

"Shadowhawk is gone forever. I will never build another gundam."

Trynity closed her eyes and tried to bite back her tears, but she failed. 

He took her face between his hands and brushed away her tears with his thumbs. "Someday you will be glad of what happened."

Trynity met his gaze although his face was blurry. "I am glad now, father!"

Dr. Stryfe lifted her into his embrace and held her close. "We have so much wasted time to make up for."

She held him as tightly as she could, but she felt as weak as a newborn kitten. Reluctantly he laid her back on the bed. "Get some rest, pumpkin."

Trynity managed to grab his hand as he stood. "Father, are… the others…"

"If you are worried about that rascally group of young men that have been pestering the medical staff here for the last week, I assure you much to everyone's annoyance, they are alive and well. Chang Wufei sustained several injuries, but he has already been released."

"He saved my life," she commented. Although it hurt, she laughed. "He will live to regret it."

"That's my pumpkin!"

"And Lars?"

"Young Nelson is down the hall from you. He is recovering quickly, especially with all the extra attention he is getting from the nurses."

"Is he…are we to be arrested?"

Her father patted her hand. "Don't worry about such things. I think Miliardo Peacecraft wants to put this ugly episode in the past. He is returning from space today, so we will know more later."

Trynity sighed and laid back to close her eyes. "I am so tired."

"You have a lot of healing to do. Just relax." He said something else, but Trynity had already fallen asleep.

Sometime later, she awoke to a dark room lit only by the light of the moon. On her side, she stared at it and knew she would never be able to look at it again without remembering what had occurred on the dark side. Hot tears ran down her cheeks as she recalled the feeling of shooting the arrow that could have destroyed the Deathscythe. It had been charged to pierce gundanium, and if Lars hadn't deflected the shaft, Duo would have died.

She sobbed and turned away from the moon. Her movement was restricted, and she realized she had come up against a body. Trynity reached out to touch the head, and she was filled with joy to come into contact with a long, thick braid.

"Duo!"

"Hey, not so loud! If those nurses catch me in here, they will fry my ass!" His hand caressed her check. "Oh, Trynity, you're not crying are you!" There was a catch in his voice when he said the last words. "Crap!"

She touched his face and felt the wetness. "Duo, why are you crying?"

"Because you are! Now stop it!"

Trynity pulled his head to her shoulder and his arm came around her to hold her tight. Although it caused her some pain, she did not let him know. She wanted to keep him close to her in the dark. "I'm sorry, Duo."

"A little tears never hurt anyone." He found her hand and laced his fingers with hers.

"I mean about the battle," she said softly.

He didn't say anything for a moment and she was afraid he was angry or hurt, but he finally said, "I understand why you did it Miss Stryfe. What I don't understand is why that jerk Nelson threw himself in the way. Kind of makes it impossible now to kick the snot out of him."

Trynity knew why he had done it, but she suspected Duo still wouldn't understand that a man like Lars Nelson could have any kind of honor. Lars knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she had killed Duo. He had made the ultimate sacrifice for her, and she would never be able to repay him. "I am sure the god of death can show some leniency."

"If he so much as looks at you, he's going to become dog meat."

Trynity laughed and squeezed his hand. "You don't have to worry about him."

"You're right! He's got six nurses all to himself, each one prettier than the next."

"Pretty, huh?"

"None of them are prettier than you," he said quickly.

"That must mean I can expect Lars to visit me as soon as he is able," she teased.

"Well, there might be one or two nurses that…Hey, you are messing with my head."

"I'm tired Duo," she told him as a wave of weariness rolled through her. The sedative in her I.V. must be taking affect.

"That's fine by me. I need some sleep too. Zechs is returning tomorrow and I have to fly escort with the others."

"Are they expecting trouble?"

"Nope! Just a pretty show to welcome them back. Since Vice Minister Une was forced to resign and the Assembly voted to accept Miliardo Peacecraft as king, he really has nothing to worry about." Duo chuckled. "At least, almost nothing."

Trynity didn't know what he meant by that, nor did she care as she drifted off to sleep.

**********

"I can't go out there!"

Miliardo and Benton watched Noin paced back and forth. The shuttle had landed, and lining the exit from the shuttle were the gundams performing the duties of an honor guard. But the shuttle port was jammed with reporters, and while Miliardo was used to such an invasion, Noin was the one in the hot seat now.

"Be reasonable, Lucrezia. What are they going to do to you?"

"This!" She walked over to the large screen telecom and punched the button to turn it on. There were pictures flashing of her, and the reporter was doing a story about the new queen consort of King Miliardo Peacecraft. Then it happened. The face of Roxy Rivera was plastered on the screen, and she listened with mortification to her own recorded voice say,_ "You are not getting away that easy, loverboy."_

"I'm going to be sick!"

Miliardo watched her stumble away to the bathroom, and the sounds coming from within made him wince.

Benton sighed. "Perhaps you should have warned her that the required number of witnesses for your ceremony was the entire Cinq Kingdom when you opened up the communications."

Miliardo snorted with laughter. "When has she ever used any common sense before opening her mouth?"

Noin walked out of the bathroom brushing her teeth.

Benton and Miliardo exchanged a look, and she turned on her heel and walked back to the bathroom.

"Some habits may be difficult to break," commented Benton.

"What the hell, I married her despite them," said Miliardo with a laugh. "But she had better learn how to hold a spoon and use the correct fork. There are many formal dinners to attend, and I doubt she would want to be embarrassed."

"Leave it to me, your Excellency."

Noin stepped out of the bathroom only to see more pictures of Roxy Rivera in many forms of undress giving sassy responses to questions. She groaned and looked at Miliardo. "Is there no way to clear away the reporters?"

He came to her and slipped an arm around her waist. "Let's go face the enemy and get it over with. It's just a battle of another kind, the first of many." He had tried to talk her out of wearing her uniform, but he suspected she was using as if it were armor to protect her from the onslaught of the reporters. 

They stepped out of the shuttle together, and for just a moment there was complete silence. Miliardo took the opportunity to turn to her, and for their benefit, and his own, he drew her to him and kissed her. She put her hands on his shoulders, then slid her fingers into his hair. Miliardo didn't release her until the sensible Benton cleared his throat politely to remind them that they weren't alone.

Noin took a deep breath, tossed back the cape she wore over one shoulder, then moved down the steps ahead of him to greet her audience. He couldn't have been more proud of the way she handled the reporters. Somehow she had managed to find ground between the no-nonsense Commander Noin and the spunky Roxy Rivera. That was the woman he loved. As she made her way to the limousine, she tossed out answers to questions from every direction with the finesse of the commander she had been. She paused for pictures beside the Valkryie and announced that she would no longer be piloting the gundam or any other mobile suit. Her duties would be defined by her new role in King Miliardo Peacecraft's life. She would be his consort, his wife and mother of his children.

Miliardo was smiling obliviously as he admired her, imagining how they could spend the hour ride to the palace, when the press suddenly turned on him, and he noticed Noin laughing as she ducked into the limousine.

"What did she just say?" he asked Benton fearfully although he managed to keep up the smile for the press who had attacked en masse.

Benton snorted with laughter. "I believe she told them her duties as mother would begin quite soon. Are you all right, your Excellency?"

"I think I'm going to be sick!"

Benton put his hand on his shoulder. "Time to face the enemy, your Excellency. Remember that it's just another battle. Maybe the first of many."

Miliardo raised his brow.

Benton chuckled.

****

Seaside Laboratory

"Hey, you can't do this!" Duo lunged for the special strawberry shortcake Heero and Trowa had spent the morning preparing in honor of the homecoming of Miss Trynity Stryfe.

Quatre grabbed his arm. "You can't deny we owe it to her."

"I know, but I want to taste it first!" Duo tried to swipe the cake from Heero. It looked twice as good as that chocolate mousse she had treated them to.

Trowa took a taste of the frosting. "I think it needs a little more gunpowder."

"At least give me a strawberry!"

Wufei raised a brow as Duo made a last lunge. He crashed into Heero, who bumped Trowa on the way down, and Trowa grabbed Wufei to keep his balance and succeeded only in shoving Wufei's face into the cake as they all landed on the floor. Quatre stood above laughing.

The door to the kitchen opened and Sally Po walked in. Her eyes were blazing with anger as she took in the scene, "What are you guys doing?"

She was bumped as the kitchen door swung open and Dr. Stryfe hurried in holding a thin wire. "You'll need this! From what you described, she used a very fine detonation device…" His voice trailed off as he saw the new Commander of the Cinq Kingdom forces on the floor with frosting on her face.

Duo laughed as he snatched a strawberry and popped it in his mouth. "Sorry, Dr. Stryfe, but we seem to have messed up the cake."

Dr. Stryfe rubbed his cheeks, then reached down to help Sally Po up.

Wufei hurried forward to help wipe her face, and they shared a lingering glance that Duo thought was a little obvious. They would no doubt be cuddling in the shadow of the Altron later.

Sally tore her eyes from Wufei, and she gave Trynity's father a stern look that Duo knew all too well. "I hope this is not an example of how you will be watching out for these young men. What King Miliardo was thinking when he appointed you their guardian, I have no clue! I think he has lost all sense of reason."

He watched her walk out, then turned to look at them. "She's a feisty woman!"

"She's my feisty woman," declared Wufei before following her out.

Dr. Stryfe frowned.

"You aren't in the market for a woman, are you?" asked Trowa. "Count yourself lucky to not have one! They nag constantly."

"You can say that again," remarked Heero. 

Duo grinned. "Not all of them nag."

"Just so!" Dr. Stryfe slapped him on the back. "I think you and I found the best of the lot!"

"I know I did." Duo was just glad Trynity was coming home. He was getting tired of the trips to the hospital and all the sneaking around he had to do. To have Trynity so close by would be heaven. He noticed Dr. Stryfe looking at him with a raised brow. Well, maybe he was going to have to continue sneaking.

"Say, I have noticed you talking to Miss Dimster at school," commented Quatre. "She's not married."

"She would make quite a catch!" added Trowa with a laugh.

"And Trynity would welcome her into your family with open arms." Heero had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

"Do you think so?" Dr. Stryfe looked as if he were thinking about the possibility. Since his return to Earth, he had been given the position vacated by Dr. Plume at the academy. After the first week, the physics lab had to be relocated due to several unfortunate accidents. But physics class had never been so interesting. Duo thought it might be that element of danger. One never knew whose hair was going to get singed!

Before they could discuss it further, the intercom in the kitchen buzzed. "The car is coming," said Sally. "Get down there to greet them."

Them! Duo was frowning as he followed the others out of the kitchen after they had managed to wipe up most of the mess. They stood in the courtyard as the limo pulled up, and the driver hardly opened his door when the back door flung open and Trynity hopped out. After she hugged her father, she was passed around for hugs from the others, and as Duo stood by the car, the other person who had stepped from the car joined him.

He didn't even look at him. "Beware the god of death," he muttered.

Lars Nelson chuckled. "You haven't been sneaking into my room at the hospital at night to say that, have you?"

Duo glanced at him. "Me? You must be hallucinating."

"I don't think so. I stayed awake to wait for you last night just to be sure."

Duo chuckled and turned to offer his hand. 

"I never thanked you for what you did."

Nelson took his hand. "I didn't do it for you, Maxwell."

"I didn't think you did!"

Trynity came to them and put her arms around Duo. "Don't I get a welcome from you?"

He kissed her cheek, then whispered in her ear, "Later!"

"I'll bring the blanket," she whispered back.

"I'll bring the beer."

They laughed.

Dr. Stryfe came forward to take Lars' arm. "Come along, young Nelson. You need to meet the crew."

"I don't like this!" snapped Heero. "Why does he get to pilot the Epyon?"

"I believe that was King Miliardo's decision," explained Trynity's father. "We don't have to like his decisions, but we must abide by them."

Duo knew that he didn't like that Trynity would be piloting the Valkyrie for the Cinq Kingdom. But like it or not, she was a gundam pilot. At least the Valkyrie would not be as dangerous as the Shadowhawk had been.

"Let's get inside. Trynity probably wants to settle in. Tonight is a big night! She may wish to rest before the guests arrive for her homecoming party." Dr. Stryfe herded them back into the building, and as he hustled Lars off to find his room – quite far away from Trynity's – Duo escorted Trynity to her room. 

"I tried to get my room changed to this floor," he told her. "But your father decided to take the other suite up here." Duo wondered how strict he was going to be.

Trynity raised a brow as she reached out to open the door to her room but found the cover to the panel hanging and wires were exposed. She turned to look at Duo.

"Hey, I didn't have time to put it back together!" He watched as she quickly rewired the door and it slid open.

"It might be easier," she commented, "if I just gave you the combination to the lock."

"It might be, but it wouldn't be as fun," he remarked as they walked in.

Trynity looked around, and then her gaze came to rest on the purple flowers on the bed. "Only you would do such a thing, Duo." She walked over and picked up a thistle.

He shrugged. "One of my more romantic moments!"

"Mr. Winner didn't advise you?"

Duo went to sit on the edge of the bed. "Not in the slightest. I had a hell of a time picking them all!" He took her hand and pulled her on his lap. "Did you miss me, Miss Stryfe?"

"I saw you last night, Mr. Maxwell," she remarked. But she put her arms around his neck and smiled. "At least we don't have to worry about the nurses walking in anymore."

"No, just your father!"

"He's busy with Lars just now." 

"At least Lars is good for something." He pulled her to him, and as they kissed, he fell back on the bed. "Yow!"

Trynity tumbled on the floor as he jumped up, and the door opened to reveal Dr. Stryfe. Duo stopped picking thistles from his hair as he came face to face with her glaring father.

He grinned.

Trynity was smiling as her father grabbed Duo's braid and hauled him to the door.

"Hey, Dr. Stryfe, this is no way to treat your future son-in-law."

"When future becomes present, I _might_ give you a break! In the meantime, I expect you to behave appropriately with my daughter under this roof."

Duo was laughing as he was tossed in the hall and the door shut. Well, he would just have to conduct business elsewhere! He knew just the spot on the beach!

"I hope you, at least, can show some common sense!"

Trynity stopped smiling to look at her father with wide eyes. "I…I…"

He was taking his responsibilities way too seriously. She didn't like it one bit.

"Get over here and sit down now!"

Trynity pushed the thistles off her bed and noticed her father's puzzled stare at the weeds. She sat down, and he came to her and dropped to a knee before her.

"This is one thing I will not abide by any longer!" He grabbed her foot and propped it on his knee. "Honestly, Trynity Stryfe! You are old enough to tie your own shoes! Now watch how it's done!"

She took a deep breath to keep from crying as he slowly tied her shoe, explaining to her as if she were a small child how to do it. He set down that foot, then lifted the other and waited for her to tie it. She did, without a mistake. 

He smiled at her. "There! Now I don't want you falling at any other boy's feet." He sat beside her on the bed and put his arm around her shoulders. "I am here for you, Trynity. I wasn't a good father even though you are the most precious thing in my life. But I intend to be very diligent until Maxwell takes you off my hands."

"How do you know it will be him?" she asked with raised brows. "He is an idiot, you know."

"Yes, I know that! Believe me, after living with the young man for two weeks, I am well aware of his shortcomings. But I know how he feels about you, and I am quite sure you feel the same. I've been down that road myself, Trynity. Maxwell is the one who is going to walk it with you."

Trynity kissed his cheek. "I promise to behave."

"You are an adult." He kissed the top of her head. "I know I can trust you."

As he left, Trynity was thinking of the perfect spot on the beach.

Later in the afternoon after she had a nap, Trynity left her room in search of her father and found him in the laboratory to which she now had access. The hanger was the largest she had ever seen in her life, and she walked from gundam to gundam, admiring the work of the scientists she had never met, but who now comprised her father's circle of friends. She stopped at the Valkryie and was joined by a man in a bright pink shirt, wearing sunglasses.

"My name is Howard." He held out his hand.

Trynity took it. "Is this your creation?"

Howard looked up at the Valkyrie. "Indeed it is. I designed it for Lucrezia Noin. I had a feeling she wouldn't be using it much."

She smiled at him. "I hope I am worthy to fill her shoes."

"My dear, I have seen you in action. You are quite worthy. Next week-end will be your first training exercise in the Arctic."

Trynity was cold just thinking about it. "I am looking forward to it."

Howard chuckled. "I know you will be busy with school, but you need to make time to get down here."

Trynity had always wondered where the others disappeared to after supper. Now she knew. "You can expect me."

Howard stroked his pointed chin as he stared at her. "You look like your mother. She was the prettiest girl in the lab. Pity about the hair." He laughed as he wandered away.

Trynity put her hand to her hair then scolded herself for being vain as she made her way to her father. He had just said something that made Heero and Trowa laugh, and she had no doubt he was describing in detail some explosion he had caused. If Seaside Lab did not disappear into a crater in the ground within a month, Trynity would be surprised.

They parted for her, and Dr. Stryfe's laughter died away. "Oh, pumpkin, here you are! Feeling better?"

"Pumpkin?" Heero snorted.

Trowa chuckled. "Let's just call her jack-o-lantern."

They laughed. 

Trynity crossed her arms and glared at them. "Try it, either of you!"

Her father laughed. "Don't be a sourpuss, Trynity."

She looked back at him, then reached into her pocket and withdrew a disk. "Before the battle, I went to the lab to find you. When you weren't there, I was afraid Nelson would do something to you, and I didn't want your work to be destroyed after the many hours you spent on your project. So I took the disk."

He took it from her, but she noticed he was blushing. "Now, that was very thoughtful of you, pumpkin."

Trynity frowned. "I thought you would be pleased."

"Well, I am!" He dropped the disk on the desk behind him.

She waited for him to say something more, but he appeared to be feeling some type of guilt. "Father, what is on that disk?" Trynity reached for it, but he blocked her.

"My secret project, Trynity. Now why don't you run along and find Duo. The two of you can take a walk on the beach."

Now that proved to Trynity he was hiding something. She reached out again, and when he moved to grab the disk, she snatched it with her other hand. "Just what are you working on?"

Heero and Trowa crowded in as she slammed the disk into the computer. Trynity expected to see complicated calculations appear, or scientific data even she would have difficulty understanding. But when a colorful screen appeared, and an elf jumped out from behind a tree swinging a sword, she gasped with indignation.

"The Legend of Zelda!" Trowa and Heero gave each other a high five, then gave one to Dr. Stryfe. "The Return of Ganondorf!"

Trynity glared at her father who hung his head. "This is what you have been working on!?"

"Now, I never said…"

"This is what I saved from destruction at the risk of my own personal safety?"

"I am on level thirteen," he told her sheepishly.

Trowa and Heero looked at each other. "The Gorgon's Swamp!" they exclaimed at the same time.

Disgusted, she marched out of the lab, passing Duo who said, "Do I hear Zelda's lullaby?"

She was forgotten as they turned their attention to their ridiculous video game. So Trynity took the elevator and went to the recreation room. When the door opened, she almost shut it again when she noticed that Chang Wufei was standing on the balcony overlooking the sea. Well, she had something to say to him and she had waited too long as it was.

When she joined him on the balcony, he turned to look at her. "Miss Stryfe."

"Wufei." She turned to look at the late afternoon sun shimmering on the water.

"A remarkable sight."

She turned to see him looking at her. "Not you, Wufei! I have enough suitors! I would not be in the least interested in a relationship with you!"

"Nor I with you. I was merely making an observation."

"Thank you." She sighed. "I have much to thank you for, Chang Wufei."

"So you do."

"If you hadn't knocked me out, Nelson would have shot me on the spot. As it was, even though you tied me up and left me in a closet – I won't thank you for leaving me next to that musty mop – he held a gun to my head and threatened to shoot me if I proved to be a traitor."

"Believe me, Miss Stryfe, I took no pleasure in what I did – except maybe the part about the mop." But his smile told her otherwise.

"Some day, Wufei, I am going to wipe that smug look off your face."

"I look forward to it."

"Is that why you saved my life in space?"

"Of course! You have proven yourself a worthy opponent, almost my equal."

She laughed. "There are so few of us, aren't there?"

Wufei chuckled and put his hand on her arm. "You are my friend, Trynity. I would have done the same for Heero, Trowa, Quatre, and even Duo. You are a brave and honorable woman."

She leaned forward to kiss his cheek, then smiled. The words to thank him again died away as Wufei swayed and grabbed the edge of the balcony, and she cursed herself. Was she doomed to frown with these guys?

"I…I have to go!" Wufei stumbled away, and she was left alone.

But she was alone for only a few minutes before Duo walked into the recreation room. "Hey, what did you do to Wufei?"

She leaned against the balcony railing. "I smiled at him."

"Poor guy!" He joined her, slipping an arm around her waist. When he would have kissed her, she put her fingers on his lips.

"Shame on you! What would my father say?"

"He's too busy fighting a swamp rat with a beam saber. I didn't bother telling him he is supposed to use a whip. He'll be at it all night."

Trynity wriggled out of his embrace. "I promised I would behave. Besides, I have to get ready for the party. I heard the king won't be coming."

"Yeah, I guess Noin was heaving pretty good today. Too bad for Zechs. Cut down in the prime of life! One day a bachelor prince with any chick at the snap of his fingers, the next shackled to a puking, whining baby-making machine. Next thing you know, he will be knee-deep in stinking diapers."

Trynity crossed her arms and frowned at him. "Is that your views on marriage and fatherhood?"

"Well…ah…" Duo scratched his head.

"I think we already know one aspect to look forward to." Trynity laughed and kissed his cheek. "See you later."

"I'll give that whole marriage thing more thought," he promised her. "Maybe it isn't all bad! Uh, hey, there isn't something I should…uh..know about?"

There was just a hint of rising panic in his voice, so she waited until just before the elevator door closed before saying, "You don't need to worry about those stinking diapers just yet."

Duo was thinking about what she had said later as he made his way to the salon where the guests were ushered. Colonel Benton was attending in place of the king who sent his regrets. Benton confided that he was glad to escape the palace for the evening and said the king almost didn't let him go.

"In a few weeks she will be feeling better," said Sally with a laugh.

Benton groaned. "I may resign before those few weeks are up."

"I never thought Noin would become a weak female," commented Wufei.

"Since when were you a good judge of female character?" asked Sally.

He smiled at her. "I wasn't wrong about you."

Duo laughed as she blushed, then he noticed Lars standing with Trynity as Dr. Stryfe introduced people to them. Was he standing a bit too close?

"Where's your scythe?" asked Heero. 

"About to be buried in his back."

"Don't look now, but trouble just walked in the door."

"Duo!" Hilde skittered across the room, rudely ignoring the guest of honor as she threw herself against him.

"Damn it, Hilde, get off me!" He tried to avoid her kiss, but she planted one on his lips.

Heero snorted and walked away.

Duo shoved Hilde back. "Can't you understand? I'm with Trynity!"

Hilde put her hands on her hips. "With Trynity!? She tried to kill you!"

"Hey, I'd rather be killed by her than kissed by you. Now run along and dig your claws into some other guy. Quatre's alone. Dot isn't here yet."

She turned to look at Trynity, glaring, with hatred spitting from her eyes. Then suddenly she raised her brows. "Who is that god standing next to her?"

"Her father." 

Hilde made a sound of disgust. "Not him! I mean that gorgeous model of manhood."

"You already know Trowa."

"You know who I mean!" She slapped his arm.

"You mean the traitor Nelson."

"Hmmm. Are he and Trynity Stryfe…"

"Don't finish that question, Hilde. Trynity is _my_ girl. You want Nelson, I will bait the hook for you." He grabbed her arm and marched her over to them.

Trynity looked at Hilde, then at Duo, then turned her last gaze upon Lars. Good girl, she was getting the picture. "Lars, I would like you to meet Hilde," said Trynity. "She is a mobile suit pilot. I almost killed her."

Hilde glared at Trynity for the very brief and very rude introduction, and Duo almost laughed.

Lars took her hand like a gentleman and raised it to his lips. "Don't worry, Hilde. Many of us can lay claim to the fact that Trynity almost killed us. Right, Maxwell?"

"Hey, she might kill me yet." Lars seemed to be interested in Hilde, although Duo couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why any guy would choose Hilde over Trynity Stryfe. Hilde batted her long lashes, and Lars was charmed. Didn't take much, thought Duo. Sucker!

Relena Peacecraft arrived along with Dorothy Catalonia. There was an awkward moment when Dorothy greeted Trynity – the Shadowhawk had humiliated her mobile dolls – but after that, everything settled down as usual. Relena screeched for Heero, Catherine hung on Trowa, Dorothy bossed Quatre, and now Lars Nelson had Hilde eating out of his hand. The dinner party proceeded without incident, unless one counted Dr. Stryfe starting the tablecloth on fire when he lit the cherries jubilee dessert. Duo thought it was amusing although Trynity was very embarrassed. She needed to lighten up!

Before the end of the meal, Benton was called back to the palace. In fact he received two calls, one from the king and one from the king's wife. Poor Benton. 

After the meal, Duo felt sorry for himself as he was forced to listen to Trowa and Quatre performing music. He noticed that Hilde and Lars had disappeared while he had to listen to the racket standing next to Dorothy who kept looking at him like a piece of meat while Trynity sat on the sofa with her father. When the evening came to a blessed end, he said goodnight to Trynity with a kiss on the cheek witnessed by her father, then made his way to his room. When the place grew quiet, he left his room, and went to the lower level. He went onto the beach, and stood under Trynity's window. Taking a stone, he tossed it at the window.

"Ow!" Trynity popped her head out. "What did you do that for?"

Oops! Before he could explain, she was free-falling from her window, and he didn't breathe until she landed like a cat in front of him.

"Jeez, Trynity! Why do you do that? You scared the crap out of me!"

"Well, you hit me with a stone!"

Duo took her hand. "I'll kiss your little owie!"

"You certainly will!" They dashed along the beach until they came to the spot where he had first come upon her. There they sat down and Duo held her in his arms as they both looked up at the moon.

"I will never forget this," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"It's almost like the first time we were out here together."

Trynity looked up at him. "This is better. The Shadowhawk isn't watching." 

Duo shuddered and glanced into the distance at the rocky shoreline where the Shadowhawk had been cloaked. Then he looked back down at her. "You are beautiful in the moonlight, Miss Stryfe."

"Mr. Maxwell, I think you are becoming a poet." She smiled at him. "I don't know how you did it, you idiot, but I love you."

Duo laughed and touched his forehead to hers. "It took you long enough, Miss Stryfe! I've loved you since the moment you fell at my feet!" He glanced down and saw that her shoes were tied. "Hey! How did that happen?"

"I'll tell you later." Trynity slid her fingers into his hair and pulled his head down to hers. 

"Hey, don't mess with my hair!"

Trynity laughed. "I'm going to do more than mess with your hair, Duo Maxwell."

"Well, then carry on."

And she did, under the light of the full moon and a starry sky.


End file.
